


I Can Be Your Hero Baby

by Ms_Understood94



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, In a good way though, Percy loves to burst out singing, Suggestive Themes, like a lot, nothing explicit though, so cheesy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-19
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-04-15 12:04:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 40,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4606062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ms_Understood94/pseuds/Ms_Understood94
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Annabeth enjoys spending her lunch break on the steps of the Met- except for all of the creepy guys who come up and talk to her. One day, she is saved by a certain Percy Jackson and he may have a solution for her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Steps of the Met

**Author's Note:**

> Hi anyone who might be reading this! This is my first ever story so any feedback that you have is welcomed and appreciated. Also I am lame and only found the motivation to upload this first part today because it is Percy's birthday and I felt like I had to do something. Anyways, I know the first chapter is a bit slow, but I hope you like it! 
> 
> Disclaimer: In case it wasn't obvious, I do not own the Percy Jackson series or any characters from it.

Flicking her eyes towards the bottom right corner of her screen, Annabeth saw that it was now 12:01 and she could take her lunch break. She released a breath she didn’t know she had been holding and locked up her computer. She hurried down into the break room and quickly popped her meal- leftover spaghetti from last night- into the microwave. Her foot tapped impatiently as she waited for her food to be ready. 

Annabeth knew that she had a pretty different lunch schedule than most other people. Rather than savoring her meals, she preferred to hurriedly eat them so she could spend the rest of her hour long break outside walking among the buildings of downtown New York City. Despite working at an architecture firm, Annabeth truly never grew tired of admiring architecture. It seemed that every single day she discovered some different feature about the buildings surrounding her. 

Her personal favorite thing to do was to walk about three blocks from her building to the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She got to enjoy the buildings while she walked, and then she could just sit out in the July sun for about a half an hour and read her latest book (and yes, it was always an architecture book.) It was so relaxing for her to get out of the stuffy office building for a while and enjoy some fresh air. Well, as fresh of air as you could get in New York City. 

There was one downside to this custom of hers, however. For some reason, while sitting on the steps, Annabeth was a magnet for creepy dudes. Typically, she would have a random guy approach her at least 3 days a week on the steps. She tried to brush it off and spin it in a positive light. Maybe she was just a very approachable and nice looking girl (she doubted this, however, because she knew how fierce her startling gray eyes came across.) Maybe these men sit around the steps of the Met and approach everyone there. Deep down she knew that none of these were really the reasons, but if she made legitimate enough excuses for herself, she could keep justifying coming here. 

Because despite her sometimes creepy encounters, she really loved these steps and the surrounding buildings too much to just give up on her lunchtime adventures. The guys who approached her were all harmless, mostly attempting to strike up a conversation or throwing unwanted compliments her way. They seemed to be nice enough people, but unfortunately, the ones that hit on her were all quite a bit older than her and often looked a bit homeless. Now of course, Annabeth did not mind having conversations with the homeless, but when those conversations turned even slightly suggestive, she no longer felt comfortable. 

So that’s why this week was worse than usual- it was Wednesday and someone had come up to her both days this week. First, it was the homeless man asking her if she had any change, and she honestly didn’t. She always left her wallet in the office, and normally, the homeless will leave you alone after they find out you have nothing to give. Not this guy, however. He proceeded to shuffle even closer to her and ask if perhaps Annabeth had anything else that she could give him. An involuntary shudder rippled through her body and she quickly stood up and excused herself – having to cut her lunch tragically short by 20 minutes. Then, on Tuesday, it was the tattooed covered man who approached her and said “Hey baby, that body looks like a pretty blank canvas, you ever thought of getting some ink? I know a guy.” Then he winked at her and Annabeth had to take a deep breath so she could politely respond to him that no she was not considering getting some “ink.” 

Today the man who approached her bothered her in a different way. She was peacefully reading her book and almost didn’t notice his approach. Suddenly she heard a voice say “you’re thinking too hard.” Startled, she lookup up from her book at a 40-something man grinning goofily at her. She didn’t say anything, because she was kind of taken aback. While she was trying to figure out what exactly he meant by that he turned to walk away. If nothing else at least the encounter was short, she thought to herself. But then, as he got about 10 steps away from her, he turned back and stated “a pretty girl like you really shouldn’t be thinking so hard.” With a wink, he turned and continued on his way. Annabeth sat staring at the ground for a few minutes after that.

You see, Annabeth’s ability to think, her knowledge, had always been her most prized quality. As a child she had worked incredibly hard to battle her dyslexia and become one of the top students in her class. Therefore, any time someone commented on her ability to think, it hit her a bit harder than it probably would have other people. She realized that she must have been making a face while reading her book. Some days, her dyslexia flared up and she would have to put more effort than usual into reading. Still, it bothered her to no end that someone would dare say something about it. To her, it seemed that he thought that because she was a relatively attractive, blonde woman she shouldn’t be capable of much higher thought. 

The rational part of her brain told her that there was no way that was what he actually meant. He was just trying to compliment her and for some reason, the best way he could think to do that was to tell her she really shouldn’t be thinking, she was too pretty for such nonsense. 

Okay Annabeth, calm down, she thought to herself, you work at one of the top architecture firms in New York and you are one of the brightest employees there. This was just a stupid guy trying to (unsuccessfully) hit on you. Forget about him and go back to read your book. Think extra hard just to prove to him you can. 

After a few minutes, she realized she could no longer focus, so with a resigned sigh, she shut her book and began the trek back to work. She used to be interrupted only occasionally on the steps, but it was disheartening to her that the unwanted conversations were becoming more and more frequent. She really didn’t want to give up on coming to the Met steps, but if she was going to have to deal with things like this every time, she wasn’t sure she could handle it. 

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts as she left that she failed to notice a pair of eyes that were sadly noting her exit from a few steps up. A pair of deep, sea green eyes.


	2. In for the Rescue

Percy once again found himself on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. On slower days at the Marina, he would often have around 2 hours in between the private boat rides that he captained. He always loved to walk over to the Met and sit on the steps and enjoy the hustle and bustle of city life in New York. 

It was a few days ago that he had first seen her- the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. She had cascading blond curls that reminded him of the hair a princess should have and the most fascinating eyes he has ever seen. He couldn’t quite pinpoint the color because he has only seen her from afar, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t figure out that color someday. 

It seemed that, like Percy, she came to the steps during her lunch break. Almost always she would have her faced buried in a book (in a rather adorable fashion, he might add,) but every once and a while she would just look up and glance at the buildings around with awe. Whenever he noticed her doing this, he desperately wanted to go sit next to her and hear all of the undoubtedly wonderful thoughts running through her head and maybe hold her hand and – okay so maybe Percy had a bit of a crush on this mystery girl and It made him feel ridiculously like he was in high school again. But considering the majority of the others who were on the steps of the Met this week, she kind of stood out. The creepy men had never directly bothered Percy, but he had been noticing the last few days how often they approached the blonde haired woman.

Even from his vantage point about 20 feet away, Percy could visibly see her discomfort with the unwanted conversations. He was absolutely astounded by the fact that although she was obviously uncomfortable with the situation, she handled it with so much grace and kindness that all of the men left her alone after a minute or two with a smile on their face. Living in New York for his whole life, Percy has witnessed firsthand the way the majority of the population treats unwanted conversationalists, and it usually involves decidedly unkind words and often a bit of shouting. How this woman was treating these rather creepy men was yet another thing that seemed to set her apart from the rest of the New Yorkers (well, at least in Percy’s mind) and he was going insane with desire to learn more about her. 

On Wednesday, as he arrived at the steps, he immediately swept his gaze over the seated crowd. He tried to tell himself that he wasn’t looking for her, but the smile that graced his face when he saw those curls bent over a book disagreed. Plopping himself down about 5 steps above her and 10 feet off to her right, he told himself that today would be the day he would gather the courage to talk to her. She was basically all that he could think about and he just had to hear her voice and memorize the color of her eyes. Percy sighed and shook his head, he was already really falling for this girl and he didn’t even know her name. He vowed that he would quickly eat his sandwich, allowing her some time to read her book, and then go talk to her. 

He had absolutely no idea what he would say and spent the majority of the time while he was eating completely lost in his mind trying to come up with something to start a conversation. She clearly liked reading, but Percy has always suffered from a pretty severe case of dyslexia, so to say he hasn’t read many books would be an understatement. He was so lost in thought that he almost didn’t notice the man who approached his mystery girl today until he heard a hearty chuckle. He snapped his eyes up and found a relatively normal, albeit a bit old looking man standing in front of her. She just stared at him, seemingly at a loss for words. As he was walking away he turned around and said something, and this time Percy was able to hear. 

“A pretty girl like you really shouldn’t be thinking so hard.”

Now, while Percy did have to agree with the pretty part, he thought that this was really quite a rude thing to say to someone. He’ll admit that even he was a bit confused about where that came from. He turned his attention back towards her and saw that although she was still holding her book open, she was just staring off into space. Percy thought that this might be his chance. Perhaps he could go over and strike up a conversation with her about how weird that was, and then maybe inquire about the book she was reading. He would try so very hard to listen, but she appeared to be an incredibly intelligent woman based on the books she was always reading so he was betting that it would go right over his head. 

Right as he was starting his mental pep-talk to finally go talk to this girl of his dreams, she abruptly stood up and started rushing down the steps. Percy’s chest fell the slightest bit at his missed opportunity, but it just about fell onto the pavement when he thought he heard her mutter something along the lines of “don’t know if I can come here anymore.” He was going to curse whatever gods there were for all eternity if she really never came back and he never got the chance to ever talk to her. He closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair before pushing himself off the ground. He had purposely eaten his lunch quickly so he could have time to talk to her, but with her gone now, he didn’t have anything to do here so he might as well head back to the marina.

He pushed his hands in his pockets and joined the throngs of people on the sidewalks, vowing that if she was on those steps tomorrow, he WOULD talk to her. There were no more excuses he could make. He may or may not have spent the rest of the walk to the marina searching for blonde princess curls in the hordes of people.  
====================================================================================  
Luck was not on his side apparently. He had spent the last 24 hours anxiously awaiting his lunch break so he could spend some time at the Met steps (ideally, with her) but about 30 minutes before his lunch, a newlywed couple had showed up at the marina, looking to book a last minute tour. Last minute as in starting right now, and cutting into his precious lunch break. He plastered on a smile and immediately led them to the boat, hoping to get the tour started soon, so that it would end soon. 

Really it was a gorgeous day to be on the water. The sun was out and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The New York skyline was picturesque and the couple was definitely taking advantage of that by snapping many photos. They were really enjoying the ride and each other’s company. After a while, they pulled him into the conversation, distracting his thoughts from the girl on the steps, which admittedly is where they had been the whole ride. Before he knew it, he was pulling the boat back into the marina, and wishing the couple a wonderful stay in New York. 

He glanced down at his watch and cursed. It was already 12:30, and he was usually at the steps by 12:20. Even from just the few days she had been there, he noticed that she typically arrived around 12:25 and left by 12:50. That meant that with his fifteen minute walk from the marina to the steps, she would basically be getting ready to leave when he arrived. He grabbed his lunch bag from the fridge and all but ran to the Met. 

When he finally arrived he was delighted to see his mystery woman sitting on the steps. Today, she was wearing a grey maxi dress and Percy thought she looked flawless. He had decided he was going to waste no time and started walking towards where she was sitting on the steps when he saw another man approach her. He must have been at least 60, relying heavily on a cane for transportation, and he looked like he might have been homeless. He offered the young woman a small yellow flower. 

Her face lit up with a blinding smile, and Percy found himself smiling just because of her. 

“Thank you sir, this was very sweet of you.” She told the man, her smile never leaving her face. 

“You’re welcome miss. Do you have 50 cents?” He asked in return. 

Percy saw her face drop a bit. She had thought that this was a random act of kindness, when it really appeared to be one of the newest ploys for panhandling. 

Dropping her eyes she answered “I’m sorry, I don’t.”

“Well that’s alright. Are you single?” He continued. 

Percy had to admit that he was impressed by this man’s courage. That was a mighty bold move he just made. He saw the woman visibly stiffen like she had yesterday and Percy decided this was his golden opportunity to intervene. He confidently strolled up and began the act: 

“Hi honey, sorry I am a bit late, got caught up at work.” He directed at the woman as he took a seat next to her, not even glancing at the stranger. She stared at him incredulously, her eyes fierce and calculating. 

Gray. 

He had sworn to himself that he would learn the color of her eyes, and he was pretty sure now that he could never forget them. He had never seen anything like them. They remind him of the swirling clouds on a stormy day and they were the most beautiful things he had ever seen. She was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.  
He broke out of his reverie when he realized that he was staring. He used everything in his power to try and somehow communicate with his eyes that she just needed to play along. Somehow, thankfully, she seemed to get what he was doing.

“Oh I’m so glad you’re here.” She forced a small smile and Percy’s stomach instantly filled with butterflies. 

“Wait wait, what’s going on sweetie?” The homeless guy re-entered the conversation. 

Percy had hoped that maybe he would have just left upon Percy’s arrival, but he appeared to be a persistent fellow. At the word “sweetie” both Percy and the girl shuddered, a fact which did not escape notice by either party. 

Percy threw caution to the wind and hooked his arm around the girl’s shoulder. He scrunched up his nose as he turned towards the man and addressed him “Sweetie? I thought I was the only one who got to call her that. The name’s Percy Jackson, I see you have had the chance to meet my wonderful girlfriend.” He stuck out his hand for the man to shake.  
His actions had the desired effect because as soon as the man heard the world girlfriend, he turned to leave. A few steps away, he turned back to the girl, completely ignoring Percy’s existence and said: “Well if you ever need somebody, I will be here.” Then he (finally) shuffled away for good. 

Percy had been hiding his laugh behind his hand because damn, he could use some lessons from that guy in confidence. The moment that the man rounded the corner, Percy swiftly removed his arm from the girls shoulders (much to his dismay, of course) and turned toward the girl, who was staring at him incredulously. 

“The name’s Percy Jackson, do I get the chance to meet my fake, wonderful girlfriend?”


	3. I've Got an Idea

Annabeth was pretty sure that her mind was short circuiting. She absolutely could not stop staring into this guy eyes, which were the most interesting things Annabeth had ever seen. They reminded her of a kaleidoscope, blending blues and greens together in an ever changing mixture that made her think of the ocean. Annabeth could imagine herself getting lost in those eyes.

She came back to reality when she abruptly remembered what had just happened. The man who had approached her today was different than the rest. She had never been asked if she was single and honestly, she had entered full panic mode when he asked. Her mind had been racing trying to find a way to safely make the man leave her alone, but she had no idea how to handle it. Luckily, she didn’t have to.

Out of nowhere, this handsome man appeared, pretending to be her boyfriend. A small part of Annabeth wished it was true as soon as he sat down next to her (he was _really_ handsome, okay?) She is not quite sure how, but he seemed to work magic and had the creepy guy leaving within one minute of his arrival. He took his arm off her shoulders (she tried to ignore how much she wished he would put it back) and turned to introduce himself. Percy Jackson was his name and Annabeth thought it sounded nice. Embarrassingly, as soon as he said it, she found herself trying their names together.

Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson. It had a nice ring to it.

She realized then that after he had introduced himself, he had asked her to introduce herself and she had just been sitting here gawking at him like an idiot. Mentally, she smacked herself and stuck her hand out.

“Yeah, yeah, of course. My name’s Annabeth. Chase. Annabeth Chase.” She bit her lip and spit off a string of curse words in her head because she couldn’t understand why she was being so awkward.

“Annabeth.” The man, Percy, said. It almost sounded like he was trying out the way it felt on his tongue. He looked back at her and said with a nod “That is a very beautiful name.”

Annabeth felt her cheeks warm up. Who was this guy who came out of nowhere and had such an effect on her? All too soon she noticed him beginning to push himself off the ground where they sat. She was frantically trying to come up with something to say, but her mind was blank. Her mind was never blank but jet black hair and sea green eyes were the only things occupying her thoughts currently.

Once he has stood all the way up, he turned to her again “Well I will let you get back to,” he squinted down at the book she was holding, “ _Brunelleschi’s Dome_.” Annabeth stifled a laugh at how adorably he had just mispronounced that title as he continued, “I hope that I didn’t make you uncomfortable, I was just trying to help out.”

Annabeth quickly responded “Oh no you didn’t make me feel uncomfortable at all! Thank you so much for stepping in. I really appreciate it Percy.”

The smile he sent her after she said his name was so blinding that Annabeth was sure it would be forever seared into the back of her eyes (not that she was complaining.) He pushed his hands into his pockets and began to slowly descend the steps. A few steps down he stopped and whipped back around to Annabeth.

Her eyes had never left his retreating form, and immediately locked onto his face when he turned. His brows were furrowed in confusion and he kept opening his mouth as if to say something, only to shut it again a second later.

Finally, he hurried back up the steps, but stopped a few down so he remained at eye level with her sitting form. Annabeth could tell that he was nervous- quite different from his smooth demeanor just a minute earlier. He trained his eyes on the ground as he hurriedly began speaking:

“Listen, so I know you just met me and I probably seem like a really creepy stranger since I, you know, pretended to be your boyfriend and whatnot but anyways I’ve noticed that it seems that people come up and talk to you unwanted. Okay now that really makes me sound creepy, but I promise I’m not. I just come here during my lunch breaks and this week I’ve noticed you because you sat near me and it just seems like a LOT of people come up to you and you are always trying to read. I guess what I’m trying to get at is, if you want me to, I could, um, you know, sit with you. You wouldn’t even have to talk to me but I just think that maybe if I was sitting near you those creepy dudes might leave you alone and then you could read in peace?”

He finally lifted his eyes to hers and _hot damn_ that boy had perfected the puppy dog eyes look. Annabeth really liked this guy and wanted to get to know him better, but then again he was still a complete stranger. But, she supposed the only way to change that would be to give him a chance and hope that he was less creepy than the usual guys who approached her.

She pushed a curl behind her ear and smiled with a nod. He let out a huge breath as a smile graced his face.

“You know, I was actually almost on the verge of no longer coming here because of all of the unwanted conversations, so I think it might be kind of nice to have a bodyguard of sorts” She gestured at him.

Dramatically, he put his hand over his heart, “I will gladly protect you from the dangers of creepy, homeless men.”

She chuckled and shook her head, still bristling with excitement that she would have a chance to get to know this interesting man a bit more.

“Okay well I’ll see you tomorrow then, Annabeth?”

“Sounds good Percy,” she replied. A part of her had wanted to say something flirtatious as he left, but the more rational part of her brain kicked in before she could. He was probably just a really nice guy who was trying to help out someone whom he noticed was always receiving unwanted attention. He probably didn’t even notice her in the way she noticed him.

He turned the corner of the building and Annabeth briefly considered returning to her book before realizing that there was no way she was going to be able to focus on it. She found herself staring at the spot next to her that was occupied by Percy just a few minutes ago, wishing that he was occupying it once again.

She didn’t know what it was, but she just felt _right_ around him. Even though she had been terribly awkward during their encounter, she found herself comfortably drawn to his presence. Mentally she was already preparing a list of questions that she wanted to ask him. He seemed like a mystery to Annabeth, and she wanted to discover all of the pieces that made him who he is. She had to rub her eyes then because this was a man that she had literally met five minutes ago and she was sitting here already trying to plan how she would learn all about him. It’s pretty safe to say that Annabeth thinks she has found herself a bit of a crush.

Glancing down at her watch, she realized that her lunch break was almost over and she needed to head back to the office. She stood up from the step and too one last look at it, already imaging herself and Percy sitting there tomorrow. Only 24 hours until she would see him again- let the countdown begin.

 


	4. I Just Want to Know You Better

Percy took his lunch break a full half hour early the following day. There was no way that he was going to be late today-he had to be there for Annabeth. He wasn’t so sure that she would even talk to him, but that would be fine as long as he got to sit near her. He vowed that he would only talk to her if she wanted to initiate conversation. She had had enough unwanted people coming and talking to her this week, he didn’t need to add himself to the list.  

When he arrived at the steps at 12:15, he was glad that he didn’t see her here yet. He found a spot where he would be easy to spot right in the middle of the steps and pulled out his lunch. He was intending on staying here until she went back to work, so he really was in no rush to begin eating. Looking around at the other people sitting on the steps, he tried to identify any people who might try and approach Annabeth today. As much as he was excited to be able to spend time with her on the steps and hopefully learn more about her, he was also extremely intrigued to see if his presence would deter any of the creepy dudes. He hoped it wasn’t just wishful thinking, but either way he would be spending his lunch break sitting next to a beautiful woman so he figured he could chalk it up in the win column.

Minutes passed as he quietly ate his lunch. Finally someone silently dropped down next to him. He turned and saw Annabeth seated beside him, digging through her purse intensely. She hadn’t even acknowledged his presence yet and already his heart was racing a pace he thought might be unhealthy.  After a moment, she pulled her hand out and in it was the same book she had been reading yesterday. She turned to Percy, her startling grey eyes meeting his and his stomach filled with butterflies. She nodded curtly and immediately opened her book and began reading. He couldn’t believe how much of an effect just her presence had on him, and how she seemed so blissfully unaware of how incredible she is.

Percy didn’t mind at all that she dove right into her book. He stole an obscene amount of glances at her and found it so incredibly adorable how focused she looked reading. He was fascinated by her, and wanted to memorize all of her mannerisms, but he tried to remain smooth and just sneak glances. One time, however, when he looked over at her, she reached up to tuck a curl behind her and simultaneously pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth as she read. Percy was mesmerized. In fact he was so absorbed that when she turned toward him with her eyebrows raised, he jumped a little.

“Enjoying the view there bud?” She questioned.

Percy was sure he was turning the color of a tomato, as he ran his hands through his hair, trying to shake his embarrassment at being caught staring. His brain never seemed to work right around this woman, so he just shrugged, unable to think of a witty response. Mostly his mind was overanalyzing how it must be a good thing that she is already using nicknames around him. Maybe she actually wanted to be friends?

Annabeth shook her head and returned her attention to her book. After a few minutes though, Percy noticed that she hadn’t been turning the page. She seemed distracted and kept glancing around her, sometimes casting shy smiles in Percy’s direction. Percy knew that this was his chance. Despite telling himself earlier that he would only talk to her if she initiated the conversation, Percy just _had_ to hear her voice again. After all, he had made that promise before she was sitting here right next to him, so tempting to talk to. What if he didn’t chat with her today and she never came back to the steps? There was no way he’d be able to live with himself if that happened so he was going to have to break his promise.

He started giving himself a mental pep talk before he realized how incredibly lame he was acting. As much as he tried to deny it, he was terrified of talking to Annabeth. She was beautiful and highly intelligent. Percy was sure that any conversation he had with her would lead to putting his foot in his mouth causing her to think he was an idiot and walk away from him.  He took a deep breath and shook out his shoulders and went for it.

“Hey Annabeth?” He started as she turned to him with a small smile on her face, “Now I’m not trying to be creepy like the other guys around here, but I wondered if maybe I would be allowed to get to know you a bit better? You seem like a really interesting person, but all I really know about you is your name and that you like to read books that have really hard to pronounce words in them. Um, do you think that would be okay?”

Percy could not understand why he was always so awkward when he tried to talk around her. Not that he was a ladies man or anything, but he usually had a charming personality. He cast his gaze down onto the step in front of him, sure that this would be the moment that Annabeth politely declines. Needless to say, he was pleasantly surprised when she let out a small chuckle and actually responded to him.

“Yes Percy, we can get to know each other. I don’t think you’re creepy, I think you seem like a pretty interesting person too.” She gently nudged his shoulder until he finally returned his gaze to her.

He released a breath he didn’t know that he had been holding and felt a wide smile come onto his face. This girl truly was incredible.

“So yeah, I’ll start then. Miss Annabeth Chase, where is it that you work?” He said and instantly relaxed because he was finally starting to get comfortable around this intimidatingly beautiful woman, which was causing some of his natural charm to return.

“I work at Olympus Architecture Associates, it’s just about three blocks from here. Do you work at Poseidon’s Charters?”

Percy just stared back at her dumbfounded. He knew that she was smart, but how could she have possibly known that he worked down at the marina? He couldn’t recall mentioning it, hopefully she wasn’t a psychic or hadn’t been stalking him or something.

He took a slow breath and responded “Yeah, I do. Can I ask how you knew that?”

“You’re wearing a shirt that says that so I just assumed you had come from work” she stated as she pointed to the stitched words on his light blue polo.

“Oh, right.” Percy’s cheeks flushed red as he realized how stupid he must have just looked asking that. Luckily Annabeth was a gift from the gods, and didn’t even make fun of him one bit for his embarrassing moment. She just gave him a small smile and left Percy wondering how anyone so perfect could possibly exist. Percy decided at this point that he really needed to keep talking to prevent himself from thinking about his ridiculously strong feelings for her.

“So,” he continued, “have any siblings?”

“Yeah, I have an older brother named Malcolm and two younger brothers named Bobby and Matthew.”

Percy let out an impressed whistle and replied, “Wow that’s a lot of boys to grow up with. I’m guessing you are a terrifyingly tough person?”

Annabeth let out a beautiful laugh at that, which caused Percy to beam.

“Yeah, I guess you could probably say that. Okay, my turn now: First, do you have any siblings and second, what is your favorite color?”

“Nah, I am an only child and hands down my favorite color is blue,” Percy replied quickly.

Annabeth seemed to mull this information over before she asked if he enjoyed being an only child. He had to take a few moments before he responded because he was never sure of his answer to this. Deciding that he already felt extremely comfortably around Annabeth, he voiced the thoughts running through his head.

“When I was younger, I definitely would have said no. I practically begged my mom to let me get a sibling so I would have someone to play with. Even now, I still wish that I had a sibling that I could take weekend trips to go visit and just someone who I’m close to in general, you know? I do realize now, though, that being an only child really helped me develop into who I am today, and I’m pretty sure I would be a very different person if I had had a sibling.”

And even though their conversation had suddenly become kind of deep, Percy actually liked it. He knew that it was more conventional to get to know somebody by asking them trivial, shallow questions, but that’s not the information he craved to know about Annabeth. He wanted to know if she thought the universe ever ended, if she believed in an afterlife, what song she would listen to if she could only hear one more before she died. As cheesy as it sounded, he wanted to learn about more than her personality, he wanted to learn about her soul.

He sincerely hoped that one day he would get the chance to learn everything about Annabeth Chase, but for now, he would settle for the trivial things. Annabeth was nodding thoughtfully at his answer when he spoke up again.

“Okay I think it is time for rapid fire mode. I’ll ask for a favorite something, I’ll share mine, then you share yours. Then I’ll ask the next question. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Alright here we go. Favorite TV show? How I Met Your Mother,” he started, pointing his finger at his chest while he responded to his own question.

“Scrubs.”

“Favorite movie? Finding Nemo for me.”

“You’re weird,” she said, and to Percy it sounded like she had a bit of fondness in her voice, “I’d have to say Inception.”

“I fell asleep fifteen minutes into that movie,” he blurted.

Annabeth just chuckled and said, “Why am I not surprised? Alright now it’s my turn to ask questions. Favorite restaurant? The Nomad for me.”

“In-N-Out Burger” he replied very seriously.

“We don’t even have those on the east coast. The closest one is in, like, Texas.”

“I am aware, but it is a delicacy whose love knows no bounds. I am also aware that you are not doing rapid fire mode correctly missy.” Percy said as he poked her on the arm.

Annabeth gently swatted his hand away before resuming her questioning, “Middle name? Diana.”

“Alexander.”

“Favorite food? Hamburgers.”

“Anything that is the color blue.”

Annabeth snorts, and Percy finds it utterly adorable. She raises her eyebrows questioningly at him, but continues in rapid fire mode, rather than questioning his weird response.

“Favorite animal? Owl for me.”

“Dolphin.”

“Morning or night person? I’m a morning person.”

“Definitely a night person.”

“How long have you been in New York? I moved here for college.”

“My whole life. Born and raised.”

“Birthday? Mine is July 12th”

“August 18th.”

“Why did you come up to me yesterday?” She spoke so softly now that Percy had barely heard her. She was no longer looking at him, but instead had her eyes cast down on the ground and was fidgeting with the book lying by her side.

“What do you mean?” Percy responded automatically.

“I mean,” she began, “hundreds of people have seen me being harassed by the creepy guys before, but none of them have ever intervened in any way. Why did you, for lack of a better word, save me?”

Percy didn’t let himself contemplate his answer because he knew that he would chicken out if he did.

“First off, no one should have to deal with unwanted conversations from creepy strangers. It was the decent thing to do to help you out. Secondly, I have never seen a more beautiful woman in my life than you and I was just drawn to be near you. And lastly, even though I knew you could handle situation on your own because I had seen you do it earlier this week, I wanted you to not have to for once. You’re right: I wanted to save you- I wanted to be your hero.”

Percy delighted at the redness tinting Annabeth’s cheeks. He knew he had said the right thing, but it felt a bit too serious near the end so he wanted to lighten up the mood a bit. An idea suddenly popped into his head that he would sure would at least elicit a laugh from Annabeth, he just had to pray that she didn’t think he was too weird.

He stood up and swiftly dropped onto one knee and began belting:

 “ _I CAN BE YOUR HERO BABYYYY”_

Numerous people on the steps turned to look at Percy, trying to decipher what exactly he was doing. He really only cared about one set of eyes on him though, and the beautiful grey pair in front of him crinkled around the edges as Annabeth began to laugh. He figured his job of lightening the mood was done so returned to his seat on the step and gave a slight nod to all the onlookers watching him, silently urging them to go about their lives again.

“Okay that is _quite_ enough of that.” Annabeth said once she finally stopped laughing.

“Of what?” Percy responded with the most innocent look he could muster.

Annabeth hardly seemed phased by his puppy-dog eyes (which he had been told were very convincing,) “The singing, the rapid fire questioning, all of it! But especially the singing.”

Percy put his hands up in defeat as he responded, “Alright, as you wish. You’re missing out, though, my singing is great.”

“Okay,” she replied, drawing the word out to three times its normal length.

After that, they fell into a comfortable silence. Annabeth was observing the architecture around her, somehow still noticing new things, and Percy was observing the people sitting on the steps, making up fake stories about their lives in his head.

A few minutes later Annabeth abruptly broke the silence.

“Do you ever come here?”

Percy knitted his eyebrows in confusion, “I’m here right now?”

“No no, I mean the Met,” Annabeth attempted to clarify.

“I am literally on the steps right now Annabeth.”

Annabeth actually face palmed before she spoke to Percy again, “Wow, you are such a… such a… seaweed brain.”

Percy’s eyebrows shot up and he incredulously repeated her new ‘nickname’ for him “A seaweed brain?  What does that even mean?”

“Well you work at the marina and there doesn’t appear to be brain inside that head of yours, so I figured it must get filled with seaweed when you go to work.” Annabeth cross her arms as she finished, proud of her logic.

“Excuse me little miss wise girl over here, I do too have a brain!” Percy couldn’t help but smile now. He felt like a ridiculous teenager again with all this nickname business, but he strangely loved it. When he glanced over at Annabeth, he noticed that her face was lit up the same way too.

Annabeth turned towards him again, “Alright I will try this one more time then. Do you ever come to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and go inside and look at the art?”

“Uh, no. I’ve actually never been inside before,” Percy replied as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

“That needs to change. Are you free tomorrow at 11?” Annabeth looked at him expectantly.

Percy’s brain was filled with a million questions at this sudden turn in the conversation and he didn’t trust himself to open his mouth so he simply nodded in response.

“Great. Meet me right here at 11 then,” she said as she pushed her book into her bag and stood up. She began to walk away from him, but a few steps down turned around again.

“Oh, and Percy? Don’t be late.” She winked and continued on her way back to work.

Percy was left sitting on the step, mouth agape, trying to figure out if he had just gotten a date with the mysterious Annabeth Chase.


	5. Have we MET before?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all. I am SO sorry for not updating sooner. I just finished the semester from hell, but I'm hoping to get a few more updates in before school starts again! Enjoy! 
> 
> Also full disclaimer: I have never been to New York or the Met, and I am going solely off of maps and pictures I can find online, so hopefully nothing is too terribly inaccurate!

Annabeth arrived at the Met steps at promptly 10:46 a.m. She was always one of those people to arrive early to important events and a first outing with an attractive guy was most definitely an important event. As she began to ascend the steps, she noticed with a start that a certain Percy Jackson was already sitting on the steps, rubbing his hands together nervously.

As she sat herself down beside him, he didn’t even glance her direction or seem to notice that another person was near him. She stared at him expectantly, thinking that he was pretend-ignoring in some sort of weird, flirtatious way. After about 5 seconds of him still staring at his hands, she realized that he honestly might not be aware that she is currently next to him.

Waving her hand in front of his eyes she spoke, “Earth to Percy. Anyone home?”

“Oh- oh my. Hi Annabeth,” he stuttered out as a blush tinted his cheeks, “You’re here early”

“So are you,” she countered.

“Quite true. Couldn’t chance being late and losing you to a confident, homeless man.” He winked at Annabeth and she couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

For a few seconds, they just sat smiling at each other, until Annabeth realized how disgustingly adorable this must have looked to outsiders and pushed herself off the steps.

Percy looked up at her, brows furrowed, until she offered him her hand.

“Well, are you going to sit there all day, or are you coming inside with me?”

Percy jumped up pretty quick after that.

They made their way through the doors, and Annabeth started towards the line for tickets. Luckily, since it was relatively early, the line was pretty short. Percy got called up to the window right away and held up two fingers. Annabeth, who had remained in line, waiting for her chance to purchase her own ticket, rushed up to Percy.

“What are you doing?” She whispered intensely.

He shrugged before answering, “Buying you a ticket”

“That’s awfully sweet of you, but really, I can buy my own ticket.”

“I know you can, but I still want to buy you one. Think of it as a treat for all of the creepy conversations you had to put up with this week. You deserve this, Annabeth.”

 “Thank you,” she began as she took one of the tickets from his hands.

This was seeming more like a date each second, and Annabeth was _so_ okay with that.

“Alright where to first, m’lady?” Percy questioned as they entered the museum.

“Well, there are a lot of exhibits I haven’t check out yet, but I was hoping we could start in the Greek and Roman art exhibit. It’s just off to the left here”

“That definitely works for me. Mythology was always my favorite subject in school, so I think it will be super interesting.” Percy replied.

“Mythology was my favorite subject as well,” Annabeth replied with a smile as she stepped in front of Percy to enter the gallery, “Also, just beware, I will probably geek out in here. You have been warned.”

“You mean you’ll _Greek_ out?”

Annabeth stopped dead in her tracks and very slowly turned to face Percy. He had the cheesiest grin plastered on his face, and was doing the classic bad joke finger guns. In all honesty, Annabeth thought the pun was pretty good, but she decided to tease him a bit rather than give him the satisfaction of laughter.  

She sighed before addressing him again, “That was absolutely terrible.” 

“You don’t think I’m _punny?_ ”

Rolling her eyes, Annabeth impulsively grabbed his hand while muttering, “Come on seaweed brain.”

Since she was facing the gallery as she led them in, she missed the absolutely radiant smile that adorned Percy’s face as she held his hand.

Moments after Annabeth took Percy’s hand, she started freaking out. She didn’t know why she had done that, and now she didn’t know what to do. Does she drop his hand right now? Will that make him think she doesn’t like him? Does she hold it throughout the gallery? She’d just met the guy, so it seems kind of weird to hold hands with someone who is essentially a stranger.

Luckily she didn’t have to think about it too long, because as soon as they stepped into the gallery, both of them dropped their hands in awe. Annabeth had always been fascinated with Greek society and there were literally thousands of statues, vases, and other Greek artifacts displayed in front of her. Momentarily forgetting that Percy was with her, she started walking wide-eyed towards the first statue she saw. She examined it closely, amazed at how detailed it was, considering how old it was.

She jumped a little when Percy spoke and she realized he was standing right beside her, “Incredible, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” she replied, a bit breathless, “This whole gallery is amazing. The architecture, the pieces, everything is just astounding.”

They meandered around the gallery for what seemed like hours. Mostly, it was silent between the two, but it never felt uncomfortable. Although most of Annabeth’s attention was captured by the pieces, she often found her thoughts drifting towards Percy and how natural this felt. There was no awkward small talk, no bad pick-up lines- it was just the two of them, enjoying each other’s’ company and enjoying the exhibit.

When they had finally circled their way around the whole exhibit, Annabeth glanced down at her watch.

“Oh my, Percy! It is already 1 o’clock!” Annabeth exclaimed.

“No way. How were we in there for almost two hours? It feels like we just got here. I suppose we should get some lunch, did I see they have a café here?” He responded, while reaching for the map he had tucked into his back pocket earlier.

“Yeah, there actually multiple. How do you feel about checking out the Roof Garden Café? I’ve always thought it looked beautiful.” Annabeth started walking towards the back of the museum, where all of the cafes were located.

“That sounds absolutely perfect” Percy said. He mumbled something else after, but Annabeth couldn’t quite catch what is was.

They were feeling lazy, so they took the elevator up to the café. Annabeth was expecting to see a classic style café, just situated on the roof, but her breath was taken away by what she was greeted with. The roof was overwhelmingly green. There were hedges lining the wall, and the floor appeared to be made of grass. There were various art pieces, couches, and chairs scattered throughout the roof. The most breathtaking part, however, was the view. Central Park stretched out in all of its glory, sitting in front of the beautiful New York skyline.

Again, Annabeth found her feet moving without thinking about it. Before she knew it, she was standing at the edge of the café, looking at all of the incredible architecture spreading before her. Gently, Percy’s hand came down onto hers. She turned to look at him, unable to hide the awe in her eyes. In his eyes, she saw an emotion she couldn’t decipher. It looked kind of like pride, but that Annabeth couldn’t fathom what he would be proud of in this moment.

“Hey,” he spoke softly, “What would you like to eat and drink? I can run and grab it, and bring it back here.”

Annabeth squeezed his hand, trying to communicate how grateful she was that he existed and that he was here with her.

“I’ll have whatever you’re having. And a glass of red wine please.”

She found herself lost in the city again, and before she knew it Percy was back, handing her a glass of red wine to match his own.

“Our sandwiches will be out in a just a few minutes,” he raised his glass as an extremely irresistible smile graced his lips and toasted, “To a beautiful city, a beautiful day, and a beautiful woman,”

At this point, Annabeth realized that she could no longer fight the blushes and butterflies that inevitably seemed to accompany interactions with Percy. With her cheeks tinted red, she gently hit her glass against his and took a drink. For a few more minutes the remained in silence- Annabeth staring in awe at the beautiful city she now got to call home and Percy glancing her direction about every 10 seconds. Annabeth pretended not to notice, but she couldn’t deny the way her heart rate quickened every time she noticed him turning towards.

_I’m in this deep,_ she thought to herself.

Oh well, there are worse things.


	6. No place I'd rather be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: The premise of this story is actually based on creepy guys coming up to me while I was reading on the steps of the Colorado state capitol. Both the "you're thinking too hard" and the "gives a flower/wants money/wants a date" guy were real encounters I had

Percy was in this deep. He was at the bar, waiting for the bartender to return with their glasses of wine and he couldn’t stop glancing over to where Annabeth was standing. The awe that filled her face as she looked out over the city was something that Percy was sure he would never get sick of.

His train of thought was broken as the bartender returned. Carefully, so he wouldn’t spill their wine, Percy made his way back over to Annabeth. She barely noticed his return, and Percy smiled to himself at how adorable she is when she is so absorbed. To get her attention, he pushed the glass of wine in her direction until she finally noticed him and took it.

“Our sandwiches will be out in just a few minutes” he said before raising his glass. Suddenly, seeing the way Annabeth was smiling at him, he got a surge of confidence to make a toast. Earlier, before they came upstairs, he had muttered this, but she hadn’t heard him. He knew that he just had to go for it and hope she wouldn’t think he was being too forward.

“To a beautiful city, a beautiful day, and a beautiful woman,” he stated much more confidently than he had downstairs. His risk was rewarded with a rose blush that graced her cheeks as she softly hit their glasses together.

As much as he tried to resist, Percy couldn’t help but glance over at Annabeth about every 10 seconds. Part of his brain was worried that he would come across as creepy, but the other part of his brain really just wanted to memorize every detail of this moment.

Annabeth was gorgeous- probably way too gorgeous for him, to be honest. But here he was, her standing right next to him, sending him coy smiles every once and a while. Percy had no idea if this could actually go somewhere like a relationship, or if she was just being nice and spending time with him to repay him for helping her be able to read in peace. He wasn’t really sure he cared, as long as he was getting to spend time with her.

As they were standing on the roof in comfortable silence, Percy’s mind was racing. He was having a serious debate in his head about whether he should ask her out on a real date. Obviously, Percy wanted that more than anything in the world, but he was having a hard time gauging how Annabeth would react to that. They barely knew each other, after all. After much internal dialogue, Percy finally decided that he would give a few more days at the steps to try and figure out if Annabeth ever looked at him as potential date material before he made any moves. No need to rush into things, right?

For the second time on the roof, Percy’s thoughts were disrupted by the bartender, who had just delivered their sandwiches.  Percy devoured his sandwich in record time. Turning to look at Annabeth, he saw that she was only one bite into her sandwich, and was facing him with an incredulous look.

“What? I was hungry!” he defended himself.

“Boys,” she muttered as she shook her head and returned to her own sandwich.

After finishing their lunch, the two found a table, sat on the roof for a while, had another glass of wine, and continued their “get to know each other” game. It turns out that they both attended NYU, just one year apart, they both are randomly North Carolina Panthers fans, and they both have had a lifelong dream to travel to Greece.

Percy didn’t realize how absorbed they had gotten in talking to each other until he looked down at his watch and saw that it was now almost 4 o’clock.

“Hades we’ve been up here for a long time!” Percy exclaimed as he turned his watch towards Annabeth to show her the time, “I guess what they say is true, time flies when you’re having fun.”

Percy was being cheesy but he didn’t even care. Annabeth stood up suddenly, sadness filling her eyes. He immediately went into panic mode that he had said something wrong. In fact, he was just about to apologize when she spoke,

“I’m really sorry about this, Percy, but I have to go. I promised a friend that I would meet her at 5 for dinner and I really need to stop back at my apartment before that.”

Percy nodded, not trusting himself to open his mouth, worried that he would blurt out something stupid about his feelings for her if he did. They made their way downstairs and back out to the steps. At the bottom Annabeth stopped and turned to him to say goodbye.

Goodbyes had never been Percy’s strong suit, and he was cursing himself for his awkwardness that was bound to finally make an appearance today.

“Well Percy, I had a really great time today. I think we’ll have to come back some time so we can actually check out all of the exhibits,” she chuckled as she said this and the butterflies that had been haunting Percy’s stomach were back, “I’ll see you on the steps on Monday?”

He put his hands in his pocket so he wouldn’t reach out and pull on her extremely tempting loose curl, “I had a lot of fun today too, Annabeth. And you can definitely bet you’ll be seeing me on the stairs on Monday.”

Annabeth gave him a blinding smile, and made as though she was going to turn and walk away, but changed her mind. Before Percy could even realize what was happening, she was on her tiptoes and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

It was faint and very fast, but he was pretty sure that his heart stopped nonetheless. She gave a small wave, which Percy returned, before walking away. He just stood and gaped at her retreating form, no doubt looking like a fool.

He made his back to his apartment in an almost trance-like state. For a while, he just sat on his couch, trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his Saturday. His mind flickered to thoughts of calling a few of his friends, but in the end, he decided that he was too mentally distracted to try and do anything today.

No matter what he tried to do to be productive his mind just kept floating back to Annabeth. He’d known her for less than a week and yet he was sitting here missing her like she was a long lost friend that he hadn’t seen in years.

As pathetic as it was, he really wished he could talk to her right now. Even though it had only been two hours since he’d last seen her, his conversations with her were some of the best he’d ever had. Basically, he _always_ felt like talking to her.

Hitting his forehead, Percy realized that he had never even asked for her phone number. He could be texting her right this instant if he wasn’t such a seaweed brain.

Whoa, he was even using her nicknames now.

Once he got over the fact that he was now talking like Annabeth Chase, he vowed to himself that the next time he saw her he would get her phone number. With a groan, he realized that wouldn’t be until Monday, which was a _whole entire day_ from now.

He was beginning to sincerely regret not asking her out now. He couldn’t stop thinking about her and wanted to talk to her all the time, it was pretty clear that he had it bad for her. And she had kissed him on the cheek! That was definitely a good sign. Percy’s heart raced at the thought that Annabeth might have feelings for him in the same way he does for her.

In an instant, Percy decided that the next time he saw her, he wouldn’t just ask for her phone number-he’d ask her on an official date.

He smiled to himself at the thought before panic set in as he had absolutely no idea what they would do on the date. There was something about Annabeth that seemed particularly special to him, so he knew no regular dinner and a movie would be enough for a woman like Annabeth.

Luckily, he had all day on Sunday to come up with a plan. He spent hours on Google, but nothing seemed to strike him as right. He even resorted to calling his mom to ask for advice. Once she had gotten over her initial prodding and teasing about his crush, she suggested that he make Annabeth a special dinner, or do something that was very personal and special between the two of them.

The idea came to him so fast he almost didn’t even say goodbye to his mom because he was so excited to get planning. A few quick phone calls and everything was ready.

Now Percy just had to ask her…..


	7. So, Date?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I was feeling really ambitious so this chapter is much longer than previous chapters! Enjoy :)

Although she would likely deny it if you asked her, Annabeth may have spent some extra time in front of her closet Monday morning picking out the perfect outfit. She couldn’t help but feel that her and Percy had a special connection, and so what? Maybe she wanted to dress up and look nice for their meeting on the stairs today.

The morning went by so incredibly slow that Annabeth actually started a minute countdown until lunch. Chuckling to herself, Annabeth realized that she was this excited for lunch to see a boy, rather than feeling excited about reading. Now that was something she never thought she would say about herself.  

Finally, her lunch break hit and Annabeth had to physically force herself to slow her walking pace as she headed towards the Met. She hadn’t felt this excited about spending time with a boy since her high school boyfriend Luke. Percy wasn’t her boyfriend yet, but she was praying that that may change soon.

She had kind of hoped that Percy would ask her out at the end of their Met adventure on Saturday, but no such luck. If he didn’t step up soon, Annabeth would have no problem taking things into her own hands. It did not escape her notice the way he looked at her on Saturday. She was confident that he would agree to a date in a heartbeat if she asked.

When she finally arrived at the steps she tried to swallow her disappointment that he wasn’t there yet. For some reason, Annabeth had expected him to be waiting on the steps for her arrival- almost like a puppy eagerly awaiting company.

She reminded herself that there had been a few other times where he had arrived later than she had. They hadn’t discussed it, but she assumed that his hours at the marina were far less structured than Annabeth’s precisely planned out days at her architecture firm.

Since she had still brought her book along, Annabeth decided to keep herself busy and read for a while. She got pretty absorbed so when she finally glanced down at her watch she was surprised to see that 40 minutes of her lunch break had already gone by. And still no Percy.

Standing up to stretch, she glanced around the stairs and down the nearing sidewalks, hoping to see that messy-raven black hair, but he was nowhere to be found. Annabeth really had to head back to her office now, lest she wanted to be late, but her heart really wanted to stay on the steps and see if Percy would show up eventually.

A pang of sadness and rejection swept over her as she began her walk back to her office. Her brain was trying to reason with her heart that he likely got caught up at work and couldn’t take his lunch break today. He had seemed so excited to see her again when they parted ways on Saturday. But what if Annabeth had said something wrong?  What if he was just humoring her because he felt bad for her?

Annabeth ducked into a coffee shop on her way back, hoping to pick up some tea and clear her thoughts. However, for the rest of the day, a certain green-eyed young man continually occupied her thoughts. By the end of the day, she felt relatively calm about it, and figured that he would be at the steps the following day and they would laugh about whatever held him back from coming to the steps.

========

When she was getting ready for work on Tuesday, she again found herself overanalyzing what she should wear, and spending a little extra time getting ready. She knew it was silly, but she still felt hopeful. He had really seemed interested in her, so she can’t believe that he would just completely ignore her out of the blue.

Her morning seemed to pass even slower than it had on Monday. The walk to the Met was drastically different for Annabeth. She found herself filled with a sense of dread. There was still hope that she would find Percy sitting on the steps, but also an extreme nervousness of how she would feel if he wasn’t there, and what that would mean.

After taking about 5 minutes longer than usual to get there, Annabeth scanned the scene. No messy mop of black hair to be found. She huffed out a breath and sat on the steps. Even though she didn’t want to stay, it was possible he would still show up, so Annabeth figured she should wait it out.

4 different times she tried to start the page she’d left off on in her book, only to have her mind wander elsewhere. Eventually, she gave up and resorted to people watching. She noticed a couple of suspicious looking gentleman who were eyeing her up, and hoped beyond hoped that they would refrain from talking to her today.

 Gods, she missed Percy.

The man truly was a creepy dude repellent. During the few days he’d sat with her, not a single one had approached the pair. She even noticed that some of the “regulars” who hung around the steps were no longer looking at her as much, even though Percy wasn’t here at the moment.

With each passing minute, Annabeth’s hope dwindled just a bit more. Finally, it was close enough to the end of her break that she really couldn’t wait any longer. She pushed herself up from the stairs, forcing herself to reign in any feelings of betrayal and rejection by the time she got to work. He was just a man she barely knew, there was no reason to let silly emotions control her day.

She faintly heard her name as she was walking away, but brushed it off. It was New York- people were yelling things all the time and it probably wasn’t meant for her. A few moments later, she heard it again, this time much closer and from a familiar voice. She whipped around to find Percy hunched over and panting, holding a bouquet a flowers out to her.

“You can take them, you know. They are for you,” he managed once he noticed that Annabeth was just standing there, mouth agape.

“Percy. Wha- where?” was all Annabeth could manage before he put his hand up.

_Real smooth, Annabeth,_ she thought to herself before he started talking.

“Listen, boss only gave me 20 minutes for break, so I got to cut to the chase here Chase,” Percy began, still sounding a bit winded, “I am so sorry I haven’t been here the last two days. Work has been crazy and I haven’t even gotten a lunch break. I’m only here because I told boss I’d quit if he didn’t give me a break today. Anyways, that’s not actually why I’m here. I should have done this sooner, but Annabeth, how would you like to go on a date with me?”

Any feelings of anger, hurt, or betrayal that she had accumulated for him over the past two days completely dissipated at his words. Annabeth smiled widely before responding, “I was wondering when you would ask, seaweed brain. I would love to go on a date with you.”

For a moment, he just stared at her blankly. Annabeth actually began to think that he had zoned out of the conversation. She was just about to repeat herself when he snapped back to attention. A huge, genuine smile lit up his face, and Annabeth’s stomach filled with butterflies at the sight. After a few moments of silence and staring, Percy cleared his throat.

“Oh shoot. I, uh, I really have to get back to work now if I want to keep my job,” Percy stated as he began fishing around in his pocket for something.

“Aha!” he exclaimed as he pulled out what looked like a business card. He turned back to Annabeth, whose head was cocked out of curiosity. He handed her the business card and after a quick inspection, Annabeth saw that it was indeed his business card, but that he had scribbled his cell phone number along the bottom.

As he began backing away from her, a mischievous glint came into his eyes. Annabeth braced herself for whatever adorable ridiculousness was about to follow.

“HEY I JUST MET YOU AND THIS IS CRAZY, BUT HERE’S MY NUMBER. SO CALL ME MAYBE!” He belted out while Annabeth burst out laughing. With a wink, he turned a began jogging back to work. Sometimes she couldn’t believe that a person like Percy existed. He was so lighthearted and carefree, and pretty much the opposite of Annabeth. As she watched his retreating form, Annabeth thought that maybe that’s why she was so drawn to him. He was the perfect complement to her.

Annabeth realized that she also would have to hustle to make it back to work by a reasonable time. She tucked the business card inside her book like a bookmark and put it in her bag as she started the speed walk back to work with an unmistakable spring in her step.

The rest of the afternoon flew by, and as Annabeth entered her apartment, she realized that she was really excited to finally have Percy’s contact information so she could talk to him tonight. She dropped her bag in her room and made herself a cup of tea before settling in on the couch.

Pulling the business card out of her book, she noticed there was writing on the back. She flipped it over and saw Percy’s messy handwriting: _meet me here on Thursday. 7 p.m._ Her heart rate quickened as she realized he already had their date planned.

Immediately, she began to fret. She didn’t know what she was supposed to wear, what they were doing, or if she was supposed to eat dinner beforehand. Annabeth liked to plan things out like this, but Percy consistently left her guessing.

To ease her worries a bit, Annabeth decided that she would just text Percy and ask him.

**[6:04] _Hey Percy, it’s Annabeth. Really excited for our date, but just wondering if I should dress up? What are we going to be doing?_**

Less than 5 minutes later, he responded, and Annabeth pictured him adorable sitting around his phone, just waiting for her to contact him. She smiled as she opened the text.

**[6:07]** _Hey Annabeth! Great to hear from you_ _J Just dress how you normally dress I guess. And I’m sorry, but our date is classified. You don’t have the clearance yet for that kind of information…_

Annabeth actually rolled her eyes after reading his response. Although, even though she normally hated not knowing what the plan was, she found herself feeling a bit giddy at the prospect of Percy surprising her with date plans. If this were any other guy, Annabeth probably would have pushed them to reveal the plans, but Annabeth was really curious what Percy had in store, and decided that she would let him surprise her.

**[6:09] _Okay Seaweed Brain… And I more meant: should I wear fancy clothes? Wear sporty clothes? Wear casual clothes? Also should I eat dinner beforehand?_**

 Deciding that she didn’t want to sit around her phone and wait for a response, Annabeth made her way into the kitchen to begin dinner. Just as Annabeth was dumping her noodles into the boiling water, her phone buzzed from the counter. She snatched it up faster than she would ever care to admit.

**[6:18]** _Just wear casual clothes. I’m still not going to tell you what we’re doing, but I can assure you its nothing too extreme or fancy. And dinner will be provided for you m’lady._

**[6:19** **] _Okay thanks Percy. I’ll see you tomorrow on the steps? :)_**

Annabeth had wanted to talk to him more, but she didn’t want to be too pushy or anything. She figured she’d wait it out and see if he would keep the conversation going. Sure enough, a few minutes later, her phone buzzed again.

**[6:23]** _Annabeth- I wish I could talk more, but I’m just heading over to my mom’s place for the night, so I’m going to have to go. Also, I checked with boss today and both tomorrow and Thursday are all booked up at the marina so I’m not going to be able to make it to the steps. :(_ _But we’ll talk tomorrow again, yeah?_

Just as she finished reading, another message came through.

**[6:24]** _Pretty please with cherries on top??_

Annabeth laughed out loud. Percy seemed like such a child sometimes, but Annabeth loved it. She realized then that Percy made her feel like a kid, which was a  luxury she rarely got when she actually was a kid.

She shook her head to clear the thoughts on her childhood – she did not want to get into that right now. She typed out a quick reply before draining and finishing up her pasta.

**[6:26] _No worries. We can definitely talk tomorrow. Have a nice night Seaweed Brain._**

She smiled as she locked her phone up and grabbed her now completed pasta. Plopping down on the couch, she settled in for a wonderful night of Netflix marathons.

=========

Annabeth’s Wednesday dragged on at work. That seemed to be a common occurrence this week. For the first time in a while, Annabeth decided not to go to the Met during lunch. She tried to convince herself that it was because there was a lot going on at work and she wanted the extra time, but deep down she knew that it had to do with Percy. In just the short week or so since she’s known him, he’s become a major part of why she wants to go to the steps.

Since she worked through her lunch, though, she got to leave work an hour earlier. She stopped in a few boutiques on the way home, looking for a killer outfit that she could wear on the date. Finally, in the last shop she went to, she found a gorgeous dress that seemed like it was tailored to fit her. It was an elegant fit and flare dress that was white in the bodice, and blue like the Caribbean Sea on the bottom, with white polka dots. It definitely was a dress that could pass off as casual too and as soon as Annabeth saw herself in the mirror, she knew she was buying it.

She made it home around the time she normally would and as soon as she walked in the door, her phone buzzed. Annabeth smiled before she even checked it because she just _knew_ it was Percy.

**[5:59]** _Hey Wise Girl! I can’t wait for tomorrow night. How was your day at work?_

Annabeth smiled down at her phone and marveled at how easily she could picture this becoming a normal thing. She really wanted to get in the habit of talking to Percy about her days, especially since he always found a way to brighten her day somehow.

**[6:01] _Good evening Percy. Work was pretty slow today for me. How was your day?_**

**[6:03]** _Incredibly busy. But I am over at a friend’s place now, chilling in his hot tub and it is everything I’ve ever wanted and more._

Annabeth’s brain was suddenly consumed by thoughts of a half-naked Percy lounging in a hot tub. The thoughts weren’t bad ones, and Annabeth definitely liked what she saw in her imagination. Still, it was a bit shocking to her that she was even picturing this at all. It had been a long time since she had been romantically tied to anyone, so these thoughts felt foreign to her. After a few minutes of daydreaming and internal conflicts about her feelings, Annabeth realized that she still had yet to respond. She typed out a somewhat boring response, but sent it immediately, unsure of what else to say.

**[6:09] _That sounds like a nice way to unwind._**  

**[6:11]** _It is, but I wish I was spending time with you instead._

**[6:13] _Patience you must have, my young padawan._**

Annabeth smiled to herself as she sent the text. She hoped that he was a Star Wars fan and would get the reference. Knowing her luck with men, he probably wouldn’t be and would be left wondering why the girl he was talking to said such weird things.

As the night went on, more and more messages were exchanged between the two. They talked about anything and everything, jumping between topics seemingly at random. Annabeth loved it. Percy’s perspective on things was quite different from her own and it was fascinating to hear his point of view on so many topics. Eventually, it got to the point where Annabeth, though she didn’t want to, had to go to bed. She wished Percy a goodnight, and reiterated how excited she was for the date. He returned the sentiment and Annabeth fell asleep quickly, with a small smile across her face.

==============

Annabeth slept in a little later than usual, and didn’t bother putting on makeup before work. She knew that no matter what she did this morning, she was still going to spend time getting ready this evening. Never having been a huge fan of makeup to begin with, she really didn’t see the point of doing makeup two times in one day.

Work flew by surprisingly fast. Annabeth again opted to work through her lunch break to allow her extra time to get ready and relax tonight. She didn’t think about Percy as much as she had been expecting to, but she still got very jittery, both from nervousness and excitement, just about every single hour.

As soon as Annabeth stood from her desk, freed from work, her stomach filled with butterflies. The feeling stayed with her as she walked home and by the time she reached her apartment, she figured they were here to stay for the night. Since it was only 4:30, she figured she had some time before she needed to get ready. She flicked on her tv and channel surfed until she found an interesting show about architecture on the Travel Channel.

Naturally, she got really absorbed, and after 3 episodes, realized that it was now 5:30. She was planning to leave around 6:30 so she would be a little early to the marina, so she really needed to start getting ready right away. She decided to leave her hair in its natural curly form and only added the slightest amount of makeup. Really someone would barely notice it was there, but it accentuated some of her features, particularly her eyes.

She donned her dress and threw a couple things in her purse before finally heading out the door at precisely 6:28. Percy hadn’t texted her this evening, but she figured he must have been busy preparing for the date as well. It was still light out as she walked through the city she loved so much. The sun wouldn’t set for another two hours still, but the sky was just starting to take on the fascinating hues associated with the sunset.

Annabeth arrived at the main building for the marina at precisely 6:45. She knew she was early, but she figured Percy would be coming from work, so it wouldn’t be a problem for her to wait inside. When she pulled on the handles to the building, she found that they were locked. Maybe Percy had run home to change?

Suddenly she heard a clanking noise from the docks and saw a figure moving about on one of the boats. Annabeth decided to head towards the person, figuring she could ask him/her if they had seen Percy. As she drew closer, she saw that the mysterious person actually had a mop of messy black hair on their head.

She stood for a moment just taking in Percy. He was bustling about the ship: putting things away, checking all kinds of ropes and gauges. He was no longer wearing his uniform, but had donned a pair of khaki pants and green checkered shirt which perfectly matched his eyes. He looked incredibly handsome.

 He hadn’t noticed Annabeth yet, and she felt kind of creepy just staring at him, so she cleared her throat. A brilliant smile lit up his entire face (and Annabeth’s for that matter.)

“Annabeth,” he started happily as he made his way onto the gangway connecting the dock to the boat, “you…”

He trailed off as he finally took in Annabeth’s appearance. His mouth dropped open a bit, and when he next spoke, he sounded a bit breathless (which Annabeth thought was charming.)

“You look beautiful,” he stated resolutely as he gazed into her eyes. Annabeth cast her gaze downward. She had always been a bit insecure about her looks, and though Percy seemed genuine, she’s pretty sure he would have said the exact same thing even if she had showed up wearing a trash bag.

Annabeth was startled when he tilted her chin up to make eye contact with her again.

“No, really,” he began before he belted out in a terrible singing voice, “YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL. YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL. IT’S TRUE!”

As he looked like he was about to take another deep breath in to resume singing, Annabeth placed one of her hands over his mouth to silence him.

“Boy, you sure do like singing, don’t you?” she said, and she felt his lips pull into a smile under her hand.

“Anything to get a smile on that face,” he replied with a wink. Thankfully, he had turned around to secure a rope and didn’t see the blush that came over Annabeth’s face.

“So, Percy. Are you almost done with the boat? What’s the plan for the night?” Annabeth began as she stared at her shoes. Her tone wasn’t hostile, just inquisitive. She was nervous and just wanted the date to start. She was sure she’d feel more comfortable once the evening got going.

Percy turned to face her, eyes knit in confusion. Then, it was as if a light bulb went off in his head and his mouth made an ‘o’ shape. He stepped closer to her and they were so incredibly close that Annabeth could feel his breath coming out onto her lips.

Percy took her hands in his and began to walk backwards up the gangway as he responded in a low voice, “Actually, my dear Wise Girl. This boat is our plan for the night.”


	8. Date Date Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about how long this took to update- I was having a hard time telling the direction I wanted to go with this! Let me know what you think

 

Percy tried to focus on steadying his breathing as he held hands with Annabeth and walked her on to the boat. Everything seemed like a whirlwind, to be honest. He had just met Annabeth last week, and now he was on a date with her. Even more, the few times they had spent together, Percy felt like she was an old friend because of how comfortable they were around one another.

When they finally reached the top of the gangway, Percy had to turn away from Annabeth to ensure that he didn’t run into anything, but he made damn sure to still hold on to one of her hands. There were still a few more things he had to secure before they could leave, so he brought Annabeth to one of the padded benches and had her sit down.

When he finally finished untying the boat, he brought Annabeth up to the bridge. It wasn’t an extremely large boat, but enough that there was a slightly raised platform area holding all of the controls. A look of pure awe came across her face as she stepped forward to examine the complicated controls.

“You know how to work this thing?” she asked wryly.

“What do you think they pay me the big bucks for?” Percy jested.

Annabeth chuckled, “Well, maybe you aren’t such a seaweed brain after all.”

Percy shook his head as the boat roared to life. He slowly pulled them away from the dock and out into the Hudson River. The pair spoke very little and instead just observed the beautiful city skyline as they cruised past it on the river.

After what simultaneously felt like hours and no time at all, they finally reached the entrance to Upper Bay, with the Statue of Liberty looming up ahead. Percy’s stomach grumbled loudly- he hadn’t eaten anything since lunch.

Patting his belly, he said “shh shh, it’s almost dinner time.”

Thankfully, this elicited a warm laugh from Annabeth that made him feel all fuzzy inside. Bless her patience because she never once complained, or asked about when they would get there.  Finally, Percy positioned the boat exactly where he wanted it and left the bridge to drop the anchor. Very rarely were they allowed to anchor in the bay, but almost every single tour cruise company closed down at 4 or 5, there were barely any boats around.

When he arrived back at the bridge, he noticed that Annabeth had made her way from her seat to the railing, and was clutching it, wide eyed at the sight before her. In front of the boat, off to the left stood the New York skyline in all of its glory. **(A/N Picture it like**[ **this**](http://travel.exoconsult.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2014/10/manhattan-new-york-and-jersey-city-new-jersey-from-upper-bay-us-670x300.jpg) **)** On the right, the Statue of Liberty, illuminated by the spotlights and the natural hues of the sunset. No one could deny it was a beautiful scene, and Percy could only imagine how amazing this was to an architecture fan like Annabeth.

“Annabeth,” Percy called softly.

She turned towards him with a twinkle in her eyes. Even though she didn’t say anything, Percy could tell exactly how she was feeling. That was a good sign, right? Percy was going to tell himself it was a good sign.

“I’m sorry to take you away from this incredible view, but I need you to wait in the cabin for like 5 minutes while I set things up for dinner. I want to surprise you.”

As he spoke Percy had moved closer to her and grabbed her hand. On an impulse, he kissed the top of it as he began leading her to the cabin. Luckily, his boss had let him take out one of their nicer boats, so the cabin was very luxurious. Annabeth’s eyes widened as they stepped inside, and she immediately plopped herself down on one of the fluffy couches.

“I’ll be back,” Percy declared in his best Terminator impression.

Annabeth smiled brightly, “I’ll be waiting.”

Percy practically ran to the front of the boat, where he would be setting up the dinner. He pulled the table and all of the decorations together, again in record time. He was starting to think that maybe he should bring Annabeth along on all of his tours- she seems to inspire him to work exceptionally fast.

After only 6 minutes, he grabbed their dinners from the heated compartment used to store food, and covered them, before running back to Annabeth. She was still lounged on the couch, flipping lazily through one of the tourist journals about New York. As Percy watched her for just a few seconds, he was startled by how easily he could imagine this same scene in a shared apartment of theirs.

“Dinner is served, madam,” Percy interrupted her reading with a deep bow.

Jumping to her feet, Annabeth followed him back to the front of the boat, and let out a gasp when they got there. The whole front of the boat was illuminated by string lights that had not caught her attention when she first got on board. They were strung over the sides and draped over the top of them. Percy grinned as he watched her take it all in. He knew right then that he had done a good job for their first date.

When Annabeth finally came out of her trance, Percy was already waiting patiently by her chair, ready to pull it out for her. As she sat down, a slight blush rose on her cheeks, but Percy didn’t even notice. He was too enthralled with her. As usual, he found himself wanting to run his hands through and play with her curls. Soon enough, he realized, he might be able to do just that.

Dinner passed in a blur. Childhood memories were divulged, embarrassing moments revealed, stomach-aching laughs shared. An outsider would have thought it a dinner between two long-time friends. As the night went on, Percy got bolder, and, after dinner, reached across the table to hold Annabeth’s hand. To his surprise, Annabeth didn’t jerk her hand away. In fact, she actually smiled shyly at him.

Percy’s senses went into hyperawareness then and he began noticing things he hadn’t before. Annabeth had a little mole just under her left eyelid, and Percy immediately deemed it his favorite. She was looking at him under her fluttering lashes, and stroking small circles onto his thumb. Suddenly, he felt silly ever second-guessing her feelings for him. Maybe he really was a seaweed brain.

Now that he had no doubts, Percy was going to put on the moves the rest of the night. Hopefully Annabeth was ready for his A-game. Suddenly, he pushed himself out of his chair, (sadly) letting go of Annabeth’s hand. She raised her eyebrows in confusion at him.

Percy bowed deeply and stuck his hand forward, “May I have this dance?”

Annabeth hesitantly took his hand as she stood up, “Seaweed brain, there isn’t any music. How are we supposed to dance?”

Percy reached into his pocket and pulled out the remote for the stereo that he had so conveniently stashed there earlier. With the click of a button the stereo came to life and began emitting the soft sounds of Frank Sinatra.

Annabeth smiled at Percy as she slowly wrapped her arms around his neck. He wound his arms around her waist and tried to control his breathing. This was the closest he’s been to Annabeth for any extended period of time and his heart was going wild in his chest.

If Annabeth was nervous at all, she surely didn’t show it. She sighed softly and leaned even closer to Percy. Meanwhile, Percy was expending all of his brainpower trying to get his feet to move in a coordinated fashion. After staring at his feet for a few seconds, he looked up again to see Annabeth staring at him curiously.

He blushed feverishly, but Annabeth thankfully didn’t mention anything. Instead she began to play with the hair at the base of his neck, and Percy was entirely certain that his body was going to melt. Never before had Percy felt this level of contentedness spread through his whole body when spending time with anyone. And in the back of his mind, Percy figured that it was not something he would ever find again.

About halfway through the next song, What a Wonderful World, Annabeth pulled back a little and began to speak, “Percy…I…Honestly, this is absolutely incredible. The dinner, the views, the dancing, … you. I just… I really want to thank you. This night has been truly extraordinary.”

Percy was flattered and his stomach was doing flips over the fact that she was actually enjoying the date. He lifted one of his hands to cup her cheek, “Annabeth, this night has been amazing for me too. I’m glad you’re enjoying it, I knew I had to do something special for such a special woman like yourself.”

Annabeth lifted one eyebrow as she fought off a smirk, “Oh, so I’m a special woman? What does that mean?”

Percy’s brain failed to register her teasing demeanor and went into full panic mode.  Before he could help it, words were spewing out of his mouth, as he slowly dropped his hand from her cheek.

“I meant, that, you’re, um you’re really different from any girls I’ve met. Not in a bad way! You are just so unique, and so beautiful, and I kind of feel all warm and fuzzy around you? And you’ve probably noticed, but my brain can barely form full sentences when you’re around. No one else makes me feel like this so when I said you were special I really just meant-----“

Percy was cut off by Annabeth closing the distance between them and pressing her lips urgently onto his. Fireworks exploded behind Percy’s eyes and his whole body jolted with electricity. Once he got over the initial shock of the fact that _Annabeth Chase_ was actually kissing him, he responded in kind.

He brought his dropped hand to her hair and _finally_ tangled his fingers into those beautiful curls. With his other hand, he pulled her impossibly closer to him. No matter how close she was, it didn’t feel close enough to him. After a few more seconds, the pulled apart, both breathing heavily.

Suddenly, Percy remembered that Annabeth had kissed him in the middle of his nervous babbling.

“Why do you have to make things so difficult?” He hoped to sound husky and sexy, but really it just came out embarrassingly breathless.

Annabeth let out a small laugh, “I am never, _ever_ going to make things easy for you, Seaweed Brain. Get used to it.”

Percy was about to let out an exasperated sigh, but he was cut off once again by Annabeth’s lips. Damn, he could get used to that. He wasn’t sure how it was possible, but somehow this kiss was even deeper and more amazing than the last.

After about 20 minutes of this, Percy pulled away abruptly as his phone alarm went off, it was 9:30 p.m. The best part of the night was about to happen, and there was no way he was going to let  Annabeth miss it.

He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “Sorry to interrupt, but you may want to check out the Empire State Building.”

Percy felt her shiver as he whispered, and stepped around behind her. He wrapped his arms around her and nestled his chin onto her shoulder.

“Percy what are you talking ab-“ Annabeth stopped talking when she saw the red lights illuminate the building. Soon the building was drenched in purple and he saw Annabeth bring her hand up to cover her mouth.

See, tonight was one of the rare light shows on the Empire State Building. It wasn’t very well publicized, but Percy knew for a fact that it is one of the coolest things in all of New York City. And it is exactly something that Annabeth would love. In fact, that was the entire basis for Percy’s plans for the evening tonight.

They watched in silence, Percy occasionally placing kissed on Annabeth’s cheeks as she watched in awe. After 15 minutes, the building lit up in every color of the rainbow in rapid succession, signaling the end of the show. Wordlessly, Annabeth turned around in Percy’s arms. Concern filled Percy as he saw tears pooled in her eyes.

“Percy, that was…wow. I honestly don’t have words. The Empire State Building light show is on my bucket list. Thank you.”

She leaned forward and tenderly pressed her lips against Percy’s. This kiss was so incredibly different than their previous, passionate kisses, but Percy found that he loved it just as much. Maybe even more, though that was a nearly impossible judgement to make.

After a few moments she pulled away. Staring into her eyes, Percy suddenly saw them darken and a hunger fill them. She pushed forward and kissed him much more urgently this time. Percy pulled away, only to start the music back up so they could resume their dancing.

The night continued on in a much similar fashion. They continued dancing and holding each other close, and sprinkled some occasional kissing. Well, making out might have been the better term actually.  And Percy was absolutely loving every minute of it. He had felt that he and Annabeth had a connection before, but now that they have begun to physically interact, it was as if that connection was intensified a million times. He could only imagine what it would be like when they went even further…

Percy shut those thoughts down before his mind could get too far into the gutter. He really needed to just soak in the experience of being with Annabeth in this moment. And this moment was more than he could have ever dreamed of. Moving his hand through Annabeth’s hair, he noticed the time on his watch.

_“Holy crap! It’s already 11 o’clock”_  he thought to himself. He really didn’t want this night to end, but he knew that with it being so late, he really should be bringing the boat back in soon and making sure Annabeth got home at a reasonable time.

Sighing, he took a step back from her and brought his hands down to rest on her arms.

“Now, if it were up to me, we would stay out here forever. However, considering we both have work tomorrow, I think we should probably head back in now.”

A small pout came over Annabeth’s lips, but vanished in an instant, “Yes, you’re right. I would never forgive you if I fell asleep at work because of you.”

“Hey now,” Percy responded as he began to walk towards the bridge, trailing Annabeth behind him with their linked hands.

Annabeth laughed lightly, stepping behind him, and wrapped her arms around his torso as he began to navigate back to the marina. The trip back in felt way faster than the trip out, but Percy figured it was because a) he was really hungry on the way out, which always makes things seem longer, and b) when you really don’t want something to end, time seems to cruelly fly by.

Before he knew it, they were back at the dock and Percy began to busy himself securing the boat. He could feel Annabeth’s eyes on him the whole time. Earlier in the night, he would have been nervous that he would embarrass himself or something, but now he felt so much more comfortable around Annabeth.

He finished up in just a few minutes, deciding to leave all of the cleanup for himself tomorrow morning. It probably wasn’t a decision that future Percy would like, but he couldn’t stand to keep Annabeth waiting any longer.

“Alright let’s get you home young lady,” Percy stated as he grabbed her hand and planted a kiss on her cheek.

They began the walk in comfortable silence, hand-in-hand. Soon enough, they had made it back onto the crowded streets of New York city and were surrounded by noise. Percy honestly hadn’t realized how peaceful their date had been until he got back into his normal surroundings. Somehow, they had managed to escape the world for a few hours and simply enjoy each other’s’ company. After about 30 minutes of comfortable small talk, they finally arrived at Annabeth’s apartment. She turned to Percy just outside her door and grabbed his other hand.

 Holding both of his hands, Annabeth began, “I said it before, but I’m going to say it again. Thank you for an incredible night.”

Instead of responding, Percy leaned forward and kissed her passionately. He figured that communicated his thoughts better than he could articulate them.

“Goodnight Annabeth,” he breathed as he stepped away from her and began to walk backwards. 

She pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth as she said softly, “Goodnight Percy.” It honestly took all of Percy’s willpower not to run back to the door and pull her into another kiss.

After she got inside, Percy finally turned around and began his trek back to his apartment, smiling blindly the entire time. He had to keep reminding himself that tonight wasn’t a dream.

It was a perfect night, with a perfect girl. Percy had high hopes for the future as he settled in for bed and saw his phone light up:

**[12:25 a.m.] _Goodnight Seaweed Brain :)_**

Yeah, life was good.


	9. Meet People

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry I haven't updated in a while- very busy semester! Luckily, now that it's almost over, updates should be coming more frequently! 
> 
> Also, I had a bit of writer's block about how to get to the ending I want,but I have figured all that out, so things should be smooth sailing from here on out. 
> 
> Thanks for all your comments/kudos, this is my first story and I really appreciate it! Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Life was going swimmingly for Annabeth. Her and Percy’s date on Thursday had been literal perfection. Seriously, she’s pretty sure that even her romantic, middle school self couldn’t have imagined a more perfect date.

She found herself daydreaming all day at work, which normally would have warranted a mental scolding from herself, but Annabeth felt perfectly content with it. She was even in such a good mood that she accompanied her coworkers to lunch for the first time in months. They were so shocked that they kept joking around asking if Annabeth had met someone.

 _You have no idea,_ she thought. She just gave them a shy smile when they asked, deciding it wasn’t worth it to undergo the endless teasing if she divulged her date with Percy.

Speaking of the handsome devil, he called her after work and asked if she wanted to get breakfast on Saturday. She couldn’t wait to see him again, but then again, she felt ridiculously excited anytime she was going to see him. Amazingly, she even went to bed early on Friday night so she’d be rested up for what Percy assured her would be “a full day of fun and awesomeness.”

When Annabeth woke up, she opted to go for a very natural look today- no makeup, natural hair, and wearing jeans paired with a simple flowy tank top. Percy said he’d come to her apartment at 8:45, and she heard knocks on her door at 8:46.

Swinging open the door, Annabeth was met with a slightly breathless (and extremely dashing) Percy. She figured he must have jogged for a bit in order to be on time.

“Well hello there,” she teased, “do you need to come in and sit down for a bit? Maybe have a glass of water? Stretch out?”

Percy tried to glare at her, but a smile danced on his lips, “Ha. Very funny. I just didn’t want to be late for you. Shall we go?”

Annabeth smiled and nodded, quickly grabbing her purse from where she had set it on the counter. She locked up the door, and could feel Percy’s eyes on her the whole time. When she turned to face him, she was unsurprised to meet his eyes. He started and straightened up, while a slight blush came onto his cheeks.

Annabeth chuckled and headed to the stairwell. A few seconds later, Percy was in step with her, so she asked:

“So where exactly are you taking me for breakfast? I’m starving.”

He wiggled his eyebrows, “It’s a surprise.”

Annabeth groaned as she bumped into him playfully, “Is everything a surprise with you?”

“Maybe. Maybe not. It’s a surprise.”

Annabeth couldn’t help it, she let out a loud laugh at that. She honestly had never laughed like this with anyone in her life and she’d barely known Percy for a week. And yep, the butterflies were back in her stomach at full force.

After a few minutes of walking to the mystery breakfast location, Percy came to a stop in front of a cheesy looking 50s diner. He stuck his hands in his pocket and turned to Annabeth with a sheepish grin on his face,

“So listen, I know this place doesn’t look like much, but I swear they have the best pancakes I’ve ever had and you really haven’t lived until you’ve experienced them,” he looked down before continuing in a hushed tone, “Also, my friend Piper works here and I really want you to meet her.”

He looked up at her with cautious eyes and Annabeth realized that he was checking to make sure she was alright with this. It seemed like a major step in their maybe-relationship. Annabeth was fine as _hell_ with it, though she was a bit surprised he already wanted this.

“You want me to meet your friends?” she grabbed his hand, “I would absolutely love to.”

Percy rolled his eyes at the first part of her statement, “Of course I want you to meet my friends. I think you and Piper will get along brilliantly. Plus she’s been bothering me incessantly about finally meeting you.”

“Been talking about me that much, eh?” Annabeth teased with an eyebrow raised.

Percy blushed, but quickly smirked, “Maybe a bit. Now c’mon.”

Annabeth let herself be dragged into the diner, excited and nervous about meeting this Piper. Percy called her name as they entered, and Annabeth noticed there were only 3 other customers in the whole diner. She loved the atmosphere already- everyone here was chatting and seemed like great friends.

Suddenly, a girl burst through the doors to the kitchen and yelled,

“Percy Jackson, is that you?” She rushed forward, and her and Percy began a surprisingly complex handshake that ended in a bro hug. Despite feeling a bit awkward about how comfortable they were around each other, Annabeth couldn’t help but laugh at their ridiculous greeting.

At the sound of her chuckle, Piper’s head turned towards her and Annabeth finally got a good luck at her. Her hair was brown and choppy and interwoven with occasional braids. Annabeth felt surprisingly comfortable underneath her gaze, which looked like it was switching colors as Piper thought. Annabeth felt like she was looking into a kaleidoscope, and her fascination was broken by Piper addressing her.

“Are you THE Annabeth?”

Annabeth stole a look at Percy, who was grinning madly at the interaction, “Yes, that would be me.”

Before she knew what was happening, Piper had engulfed her in a hug, “It is so nice to finally meet you after all of the obsessing Percy’s been doing over you.”

She laughed as she hugged Piper back and saw Percy awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

Annabeth feigned seriousness, “Wow, I had no idea Percy thought about me so much. I thought all he had in that brain was seaweed.”

She winked at Percy as Piper guffawed at that. Percy still had a small, sad pout on his lips, so Annabeth leaned up and give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“I like you, Annabeth.” Piper declared as she looped her arm through Annabeth’s and pulled her towards a table.

Annabeth had forgotten that Piper actually worked here until she took out an order pad and pen.

“What can I get the lovely couple,” Piper laughed as both Annabeth and Percy flushed red.

“Well I’ve heard that the pancakes here are to die for, so I will have an order of those, bacon and chocolate milk please,” Annabeth said.

Piper nodded and wrote, then in a wonderful French accent said, “Ah, excellent choice mademoiselle. Our pancakes are the finest in the whole country. Percy, I’m guessing you’re going to be having the usual?”

Percy nodded at her with a wide grin and Piper headed off to the kitchen. Percy turned to Annabeth with his eyebrows raised inquisitively.

“Piper is really great, Perce. I can definitely see why you two get along well.”

The smile that lit up Percy’s face was something Annabeth wished she could capture and save for sad and rainy days. It was THAT brilliant and beautiful.

“So how do you know Piper? It seems like you two have known each other for a quite a while.”

“I met her freshman year of college- she lived on my floor. As you just saw, we are basically like siblings and we hit it off right away. I was actually the one who set her up with her boyfriend of 5 years.”

Annabeth smiled, she could tell Piper was like a sister to Percy, and it was touching to see him talking about him.

“Percy Jackson- the matchmaker. Hey, if the marina doesn’t work out, maybe you could look into that!”

Annabeth laughed as she poked fun at Percy. She was so sarcastic and teasing around Percy, and it was so unlike how she normally was. She was confused as to what came over her when she was with him, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to question it, she felt so carefree with him.

He brought out the silly side of her, which was not an easy task. Annabeth knew that she had to do everything in her power to keep him around in whatever capacity she could. But, she’d be lying to herself if she said she wasn’t hoping that he’d be around as her boyfriend.

After a few more minutes of childish banter between the two, Piper emerged from the kitchen with their food. She set a delicious looking heap of pancakes in front of Annabeth and for Percy- _blue pancakes?_

Annabeth blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing those right. Suddenly, she recalled that during their rapid-fire get to know you game, Percy had mentioned his favorite food being anything blue. At the time, Annabeth had just thought it was joke, but now she just had to know the story behind this.

“ _What_ is that?” She asked Percy incredulously.

Before responding, he gave her the most childish grin she had ever seen on a grown man.

“Blue pancakes. Literally every food is better blue,” he replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“And why is that…?” Annabeth prompted.

“Well, when I was younger, my first step-dad, who was a _total_ asshole by the way, once told me and my mom that there was no such thing as blue food. Bless my mom that she took that as a challenge to try and make as much blue food as possible. So we ate blue macaroni and cheese, blue cookies, blue popcorn, blue milk- you name it and it was blue in our household. Ever since then, I eat as much blue food as possible.”

Annabeth felt her smile aching on her cheeks as Percy talked about his childhood.

“Your mom sounds amazing.”

“Yeah, she is,” Percy said between bites, “which reminds me.”

He set his fork and knife down and grabbed Annabeth’s hand, “My mom invited me to come over for dinner tonight, and I was wondering if you would like to accompany me. I know we haven’t known each other for long, but I really want her to meet you.”

Annabeth’s heart was slamming against her ribcage. First Percy wanted her to meet a friend, and now he wanted her to meet his mom. It felt like things were going fast, but Annabeth found herself loving every minute of it.

She met his sparkling eyes and nodded emphatically, “That would be amazing.”

“Great! I’m going over there at 6, so we have a little bit of time to kill before then,” Percy laughed, “Oh and while we’re discussing serious things- Annabeth Chase, you make me happier than I have ever been before. Would you do me the honor of making me the luckiest man on earth?”

Annabeth could feel that her eyes were saucers right now. Yeah, things were moving fast, but was this really headed where she thought it was? Percy’s face was an expressionless mask.

“Would you be my girlfriend?” Percy’s face broke into a smirk and Annabeth could tell he was working hard to hold back serious laughter- probably at her expression. Annabeth decided to get him back a bit.

“Well just for that- no.” She had to work hard to keep her face impassive as she saw Percy’s face fall slack.

She pushed herself up and leaned over the table and gave him a passionate kiss.

Leaning back, she whispered, “There, I guess we’re even, boyfriend.”

Percy’s face was a mixture of confusion and awe, but before he could say anything, Piper plopped down next to him.

“Pipes, aren’t you working right now?” Percy questioned.

Piper blew her hair out of her face, “You two are my only customers so I figured I’d come over and bond with the newly minted couple.”

She shot a wink at Annabeth, which caused both of them to burst into a fit of giggles. The conversation between the three carried on for longer than Annabeth would have imagined. Things with these two were just so effortless- they both had that kind of charm that can make you feel like you’ve known them for ages, even if you just met. The conversation only ended when another customer came in for lunch, and Piper had to leave to be their server.

Once Piper left, Annabeth and Percy were quick to follow. They spent the day wandering around Central Park, and taking each other to their favorite places in New York. Percy held Annabeth’s hand all day, and she couldn’t help but think it felt like home.

Before she knew it, it was 5:45, and they were en route to his mom’s apartment, which, as Percy explained is where he grew up. Annabeth was excited to see the place that made Percy into the man he is today. She also was excited to meet his mom (because she sounded amazing), but incredibly nervous at the same time.

What if his mom didn’t like her? What if Annabeth left a bad first impression? Normally, Annabeth wouldn’t fret quite this much, but she _really_ liked Percy. And from their conversations, she could tell that his mom was very important to him.

Percy must have noticed that she was thinking about it a lot because as they came to a stop in front of the door, he grabbed her hand reassuringly.

“You ready?” He asked simply.

“I think so?” She replied, “But what if your mom doesn’t like me! This feels like so much pressure.”

Percy chuckled, and placed his hands on both of her shoulders, “Annabeth. Trust me. She is going to love you.”

Annabeth can’t lie, hearing Percy say the words “love” and “you” consecutively in a sentence did a number on the butterflies in her stomach. Hopefully someday he’d say something like that to her. She shook her head, because she had been dating him for less than 12 hours and she was already daydreaming about when he’d say “I love you.”

Annabeth tried to play off her shaking her head as a weird way that she was pumping herself up.

“Okay, let’s go meet the infamous Sally Jackson.”

Percy grinned widely at her before knocking on the door. In the seconds of silence that followed, Annabeth’s heart beat fast as she prepared to leave her best impression on Sally. After all, it’s not every day that you meet the mom of a boy who barged into your life and managed to steal your heart within a week.


	10. Meet the Blofis-Jacksons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I always tell myself I am going to hit 2 or 3 plot points in a chapter and then just end up writing wayyyy too much. Thanks for your patience everyone, I promise the story will really get moving in these next few chapters!

The door swung open and before Percy could say anything, he was engulfed in a hug. He hugged his mom fiercely in return. This woman had given him everything and he was never ashamed to show how much he loved her for it.

When she finally pulled away, she realized that Percy wasn’t at the door alone.

“Oh, hello. You must be Annabeth?” Sally questioned.

Despite her nerves, Annabeth gave Sally a dazzling smile before nodding in response.

“Well, Percy talks about you all the time so it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

Percy felt his cheeks turning red at the implication that he talked to his mom about Annabeth that much, but when he glanced at Annabeth, she was chuckling with a small smile on her face.

“He sure does seem to talk about me a lot. “

Sally’s eyes lit up at this while she pulled Annabeth into a hug, “welcome to our home.”

Percy felt his heart swell at seeing his two favorite women hugging one another. He could tell by the smile on his mom’s face that she already really liked Annabeth. He imagined that Annabeth was grinning hugely as well. 

“Well come on in you two,” Sally said as she stepped aside from the doorway so the two could pass through. 

As the two were taking their shoes off, Sally started towards the kitchen, calling over her shoulder: 

“Paul will be home in just a few minutes and dinner will be ready in fifteen.” 

Percy smiled towards his mom -  _ man, it felt good to be home _ . 

He turned towards Annabeth to ask if she wanted to see the rest of the house to find her absorbed in the pictures of Percy that adorned the wall. 

See, every year from age 2 to 18, Percy took a picture on the steps of his apartment. Some of the early ones had very little, very adorable Percy, where the later ones looked a bit more similar to how he looked now. 

Annabeth finally turned towards him, her eyes sparkling beautifully. 

“Percy, it should be illegal to be this adorable,” she said, shaking her head and grinning. 

He just laughed, threw his arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple. 

“So,” he whispered in her ear, “do you want to see my childhood room?”

Annabeth turned towards him, eyes alight with amusement 

“Gods yes.”

Percy laced his fingers through her own and pulled her up the stairs. His heart started racing of its own accord, imaging he was bringing her to his room for a different reason. Percy sighed internally-sometimes it felt like a part of his brain was still controlled by a 17 year old boy. 

Once outside his room, he put a back against his door and turned towards Annabeth again. 

“You ready for this?”

Annabeth rolled her eyes, “Just open the door, Perce.” 

Percy grinned and pushed open the door, stepping inside. 

His room really wasn’t anything magnificent, but it was the place Percy felt the second most at home. The walls were all seafoam green, and reminded him of the ocean, which is the place where he felt the most at home, if you were wondering. 

He had an entire shelf dedicated to his various swimming trophies, which is what first drew Annabeth’s attention. Percy was still perched by the door, leaning against it with his arms crossed over his chest. 

“I didn’t know you swam Percy,” Annabeth stated without turning to him. 

“Yeah, I always have felt pretty at home in the water so I really loved it.”

“You were clearly very good at it as well,” she said over her shoulder with raised eyebrows. 

He scratched the back of his neck before answering. He always felt kind of awkward when people brought up how good he was at swimming. 

“Yeah, I guess I was. Never did it for the trophies though, those just kind of came along with it.” 

Annabeth nodded her head in approval at how humble of a person Percy was. He could feel her appraising his form, and smirked at her. 

She smiled at her feet before twirling in a circle appraising his room. 

Eventually she sat on his bed, and returned her eyes to him. They locked eyes for a while before a knock came from the doorframe. 

Percy turned his head to see an older man with salt and pepper hair in a tweed jacket grinning in the doorway. 

“Paul!” he exclaimed, “how have you been?” 

“Great, Percy, thanks for asking. Now, who is this lovely young lady?” Paul replied smiling warmly towards Annabeth. 

Annabeth crossed the room and shook hands with Paul. 

“Hello, my name is Annabeth and I am Percy’s girlfriend. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” 

Percy was grinning so widely that his cheeks hurt. 

After shaking her hand, Paul turned towards Percy and noticed the huge grin on his step son's face and found a smile of his own creep onto his face. 

“Well,” Paul began, “I am going to head down and see if your mother needs any help. It was great to meet you Annabeth.”

“You as well!” she called as Paul retreated down the hallway. 

“So Annabeth, you have now met the entirety of the Jackson-Blofis family, what are you going to do now?” Percy joked in his best announcer voice. 

“Try to get adopted” she joked right back. 

Percy let out a loud laugh, but his mind was racing. Though he didn’t feel strongly about adopting Annabeth, he didn’t think it was out of the realm of possibility that she could join their family some day. 

Obviously, he wasn’t going to share these thoughts with Annabeth. It kind of scared him how serious he felt about the relationship, so he was positive he would scare her away if he shared how intensely he really felt for her. 

“Well, what about your family? Would they approve of this adoption?” he teased.

Immediately, Annabeth’s face fell. Percy instantly regretted asking the question and moved to wrap his arms around her and bring them closer to one another. 

She looked up into his eyes, and he could see that they were steeled, but there was pain in their depths. 

“Let’s just say that my parents have not been involved in my life for a long time. But that is a story for another time.”

Percy tried to pour sincerity into his eyes before he responded. 

“Annabeth, I’m sorry I brought it up. But if you ever need to talk about it, I will always be here for you.” 

“Thanks seaweed brain. And I promise I’ll share that part of my life with you eventually, but I don’t want you to have to carry that baggage through this dinner. It can wait.” 

Percy grinned at hearing her nickname for him.

“No rush whatsoever wise girl,” he breathed as he leaned in and stole a kiss. 

Just as he opened his mouth to deepen the kiss, he heard his mom call from downstairs that dinner was ready.

Both Percy and Annabeth groaned, but Percy really wasn’t all that upset. He was excited that his parents and Annabeth would have more time to get to know each other. 

Suddenly, a grin came over Percy’s face, and Annabeth raised her eyebrows. 

“Race you downstairs.” he said before taking off. 

Him and Annabeth bounded down the stairs at probably an unsafe speed. Racing into the kitchen, Sally raised her eyebrows at their antics. 

Percy walked over to his mom and gave her a kiss on the cheek before grabbing some plates to bring over to the table. He caught Annabeth’s eye and saw her smiling fondly at the scene. 

She too grabbed some plates and followed Percy towards the dining room. After a few minutes, everyone was settled in around the table. 

Percy could see that Annabeth was still a little tense, but he was pretty sure after a few minutes of conversation with his mom, she would feel like a member of the family. 

“So Annabeth,” Sally began kindly, “What do you do for a living?”

“I actually work for Olympus Architecture Associates. I have been an architect there for the past 3 years.” 

Sally smiled proudly, “That’s amazing. I have heard that that is one of the best architecture firms in New York!” 

“Yeah, it’s incredible to be working there. It sounds like I am close to being put in charge of my own project soon too.” 

Percy’s ears perked up at this. He and Annabeth haven’t talked about work much, and this was a huge deal. 

“So,” he jumped in, “does that mean you get to design your own building and stuff?” 

Annabeth laughed lightly, “Yes, in simple terms. I’ll be in charge of working with the client and leading a team to help them design their new building. It’s what I have always dreamed of doing.”

“That’s amazing” Percy breathed, while his mom and Paul both said “that’s incredible.”

Annabeth beamed at the Jackson-Blofis family, and Percy could tell that she was really proud. Also, based on how she was beaming and her family life she hinted at earlier, he was guessing she didn’t receive this kind of praise often. 

For a few minutes, while everyone ate, they passed the time with some basic small talk. Then Paul brought the conversation around to Percy and Annabeth again: 

“Now how did you two meet? Percy hasn’t shared that story with us.”

Percy made eye contact with Annabeth before they both burst out laughing. Paul and Sally looked vaguely alarmed at this sudden outburst. 

“Yeah, about that,” Percy took charge. 

Sally looked at her son expectantly, not letting him off the hook of sharing. 

“So, you know how I like to go to the steps of the Met on my lunch break sometimes? Well a few weeks ago, I was there, when I noticed Annabeth for the first time, just reading peacefully on the steps. I was, uh, a little too shy to go and approach her though.” 

Percy blushed, and glanced towards Annabeth. She was smiling softly, her head tilted to the side. 

“So the next few days, I went to the steps again, and prayed she would be there so I could actually have a chance to, you know, talk to her. Every day, I would build up the confidence to say hi, and then chicken out. Finally, one day, a homeless man came up to her, and was harassing her, trying to get her to go out with him. I decided to step in and, uh, pretend to be her boyfriend so that the man would leave.” 

Percy was so absorbed in telling the story that he didn’t realize how captivated everyone was listening to his tale. Even Annabeth was on the edge of her seat, previously unaware that Percy had waited multiple days to approach her. 

“Luckily, she went along with it and the creepy man left. After that, I sat with her on the steps for a few days to ward off the men who approached her, and things just kind of went from there,” he finished, smiling towards Annabeth. 

He looked up and saw his mom grinning from ear to ear. 

“Well if that’s not a fascinating way to have met one another I don’t know what is.” 

Percy and Annabeth chuckled. By now, everyone had finished their food, so they all stood to return their dishes to the kitchen. 

Once the dishes were put away, Sally turned towards her son, “So, Percy, I made some blue chocolate chip cookies if you wanted one?” 

Percy’s eyes widened in excitement and he actually started jumping up and down. 

“Oh yes, please! Pretty please with cherries on top!”

Sally, Paul and Annabeth laughed as Sally pulled some blue cookies out of the cookie jar and handed them around.  

“Annabeth,” Sally turned towards the younger woman, “has Percy explained our obsession with all things blue to you yet?”

Annabeth quickly finished her bite, “Yes he has. And I must say, I am honored to be eating blue food made from the creator of the tradition herself.” 

Sally laughed and Percy could tell that she was really trying hard to restrain herself from wrapping Annabeth in a hug. Honestly, Percy was too. 

“Hey guys, we were thinking it might be nice to play a board game, does that sound alright with you?” 

Both nodded their head emphatically. Sally and Paul left the room to pick out a game, so Percy came to stand right in front of Annabeth. 

He chuckled as he noticed that she had a dollop of blue frosting smudged on her cheek near her lips. Without thinking, he wiped it off carefully with his forefinger. 

The mood of the room was suddenly serious, and Percy bent forward and placed a soft, but strong kiss on Annabeth’s lips. When they pulled apart, she looked at him, her eyes were gleaming. Percy thought, not for the first time, that he could easily get lost in them. 

For the second time that night, their moment was interrupted by Sally calling that they were ready for the board game. 

Annabeth smirked and lifted Percy’s finger, which still had the frosting on it to her mouth. Percy gulped as he realized what was about to happen. She wrapped her lips around his finger and slowly pulled it out, licking the frosting off as she went. 

Without a word, she winked at him and practically skipped into the living room. Percy cleared his throat and had to lean on the counter for a minute. 

_ Good gods almighty,  _  he thought,  _ this girl would be the death of him. _

 


	11. Look for the Girl with the Broken Smile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello wonderful humans. 
> 
> Apologies for not updating sooner! Major shout out to anyone still following this story! I appreciate it more than you can imagine. Stay tuned, I'm going to really try and get better about updating frequently! There's still a lot of story I have planned left
> 
> As I was writing this chapter got a little sappier than I was anticipating, so sorry in advance if that's not your thing! 
> 
> Also, this story is about to hit 1000 hits and that is NEVER EVER something I thought I would get to say about my writing. So sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, thanks to anyone who has checked out this story. Okay, enough with that cheesiness, enjoy the chapter! 
> 
>  

Annabeth and Percy learned a lot about each other that night. Annabeth learned that Percy has absolutely zero strategy when playing Monopoly, while Percy learned that every move Annabeth makes in board games is calculated and careful.

They both thought that the others strategy (or lack thereof) was endearing. 

After bidding farewell to Sally and Paul, they meandered back to Annabeth’s apartment. She even let him come into her apartment, which is not something Annabeth did for just anyone.  They had just walked in the door when she felt Percy’s lips on her own. She hadn’t even had a chance to lock the door before Percy had pounced on her. Not that she was complaining….

After a minute (or two, or ten, Annabeth really wasn’t paying attention to the time) she pulled away gasping and took a moment to lock the door. She then softly grabbed Percy’s hand in her own and led him over to the couch. She tried to look seductive as she did it, but this was never Annabeth's strong area, so she felt like she probably looked ridiculous actually.

Even if she did, Percy met her gaze with one filled with so much desire that Annabeth’s knees nearly buckled then and there. As if he could read her mind, he whispered into her ear: 

“You are so incredibly beautiful and gorgeous and sexy and all of the adjectives.” 

Annabeth didn’t even bother responding. She just tackled him on to the couch and made out with him like her life depended on it.  That continued for about an hour and a half before they both started feeling pretty tired. They shifted a bit on the couch and settled in to watch some late night talk shows. 

Annabeth felt more content with this day than she ever thought possible. She met one of Percy’s best friends and his parents, and she felt that they all actually liked her. 

In high school when she dated Luke, his mom never liked her that much, and even worse, she never got along with his friends. Many times they tried to hang out as a group, and Annabeth was always left feeling like she wanted to strangle one of Luke’s friends. 

With Percy, she felt so incredibly comfortable around everyone involved in his life she had met so far. For a moment, she was kind of sad that she hadn't had the chance to meet him sooner, but she quickly shifted her thinking. She was just so incredibly thankful that she met him at all. 

Currently, he was absentmindedly playing with her curls, and it was causing her stomach to do flips. After a while, Annabeth began to drift off to sleep. She was awoken by Percy softly rubbing her arm and whispering in her ear. 

“Wake up Sleeping Beauty”

She blinked blearily up at him, and saw him staring at her fondly. It made her heart race. 

“I’m sorry for waking you, but it’s getting late, so I should probably get going.” 

“Ugh,” Annabeth replied as she buried her head back into his chest. 

He chuckled, “Yeah, that’s about how I feel about the situation too, but it is 1 a.m..” 

Maybe it was the tiredness talking, but Annabeth weakly said, “Or you could just sleep here.”

Since she was still nestled into his chest, she missed the look of surprise, then the giant smile that quickly came across Percy’s face. 

“Yeah? That’d make life a lot easier, but I don’t want to be a bother,” he trailed off uncertainly. 

“Seriously Percy it’s fine. Just don’t try anything mister.” She sat up, eyes barely open and thrust a finger in his face.

He raised his hands up and stated sincerely, “I wouldn’t dream of it.” 

Percy helped her off the couch and to her room, mostly because he was afraid that she would fall asleep on the spot if he wasn’t there to hold her up. 

When she pushed the door open to her room, she immediately went to the bed and collapsed. After a moment, she realized that Percy was still standing in the door, staring blankly at one of the drawings she had hanging on the wall. 

She was far too tired to engage in an actual conversation at this point, so she mumbled 

“You. Bed.” 

Percy laughed lightly, and strode over to where she was laying. 

“Are you sure you’re fine with me sleeping in here? I’m happy to sleep on the couch too.” 

If Annabeth had been more awake, she would have really appreciated how kind and thoughtful he was being about this whole situation. Her brain was too tired to process much of anything at this point, so she just grunted and patted the bed next to her. 

Again, Percy laughed, but she still didn’t feel his weight sink onto the bed next to her. 

She cracked one eye open and saw him standing next to his side of the bed scratching the back of his neck nervously. 

“What?” Annabeth mumbled, all semblance of grace and formal conversation gone. 

“Uh, I usually sleep without a shirt. Is that... is that okay?” 

Annabeth would have rolled her eyes if they were actually open. 

“Duh. That’s better even. Now get in bed.” 

She didn’t open her eyes, but she could hear the crinkle of his shirt coming off. Despite her tiredness, she felt her heart start thumping. Finally, she felt her bed dip slightly under the weight of him settling in. 

Cracking her eyes open slightly, she found herself impossibly close to his green ones. Before she could make a comment, he leaned forward and captured her lips with his. 

“Thanks for letting me stay, Wise Girl,” he whispered lightly, “and sleep tight.”

“Mmm. You can always stay Seaweed Brain,” she replied, equally as light, as she felt his arm wind around her waist. 

She rolled over and he scooted even closer. Annabeth barely even registered how perfectly their bodies molded together before she drifted off into a peaceful sleep. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blinking her eyes open, Annabeth tried to figure out why there was a heavy weight on her stomach. She looked to her left and found a mop of black hair. 

A huge grin split her face when she remembered that she had invited Percy to stay the night. Apparently he was a cuddler when he slept. Annabeth loved it. 

She recalled the events of yesterday again with a smile. Her and Piper had exchanged number, and even last night she had already received texts from her new friend. Sally made Annabeth promise to stop by with Percy at least once every two weeks. 

In a way, she felt like this boy had brought her a whole new family, and she didn’t think she’d ever be able to repay him enough for that. 

“Annabeth,” she heard Percy mumble. 

Whipping her head around, she expected to see him awake, but he was, in fact, very much asleep still. She grinned at the thought that he was likely dreaming of her right now. 

With a start, she realized that Percy was the first man who she had ever spent the night with. Though her and Luke were serious, they were “high-school serious.” They had never spent a night together, or done anything more serious than make out. 

Granted, her and Percy weren’t much farther than that right now, but still. She had never let a man into her apartment before last night, let alone spend the night. 

It was almost as if Annabeth could feel her heart opening up to Percy, wanting for him to take it, which probably should have left Annabeth feeling thrilled. On the contrary, she felt petrified. If there was one thing Annabeth had learned in her short life, it was that whenever she opened her heart to someone, it somehow managed to get trampled on.

Never had she had feelings as strong as the ones she had for Percy, and she was fairly confident him breaking his heart would be worse than all of her previous heartbreaks combined. And she had only known him for a few weeks. 

Her breaths started coming faster and faster, but it still didn’t feel like enough air. She pushed the covers off roughly and stumbled into the kitchen. After pouring herself a glass of water, she climbed out on to the small fire escape. 

She sat out there for who knows how long, trying to get a grip on her feelings before she heard her name being called from the window behind her. 

Turning around, she saw Percy climbing through the window to join her. 

“Thank god you’re out here. You had me worried! I thought you disappeared!” he said earnestly. 

He put an arm around her shoulders, but she didn’t lean into him like she usually did. It surprised her how quickly he noticed. 

“Hey, is everything alright?” he questioned.

“Um, yeah. Everything is fine,” Annabeth responded, reluctant to share her feelings with Percy. 

Honestly, it was probably a bit unfair to not let him know what was going on, but she was scared. Scared that her feelings were much stronger than his, that she would scare him away, that she would scare herself away. 

She stood up and crawled back inside, wanting to start breakfast now that Percy was awake. 

The griddle had just been plugged in when she felt Percy’s arms wrap around her waist. He gently turned her around in his arms so that she was facing him. She tried not to look him in the eyes, knowing her resolve would crack if she saw those puppy dog eyes. 

Eventually, she felt his hand on her chin, gingerly lifting her eyes. 

“Seriously, Annabeth. What’s going on? I’m here to help. I  _ want  _ to help.” 

Annabeth blew a deep breath out before resolving that she’d just get this over with. 

She took a step away from Percy and pushed herself to sit on the counter. Immediately, she started wringing her hands nervously. 

“Okay,” she breathed, “so obviously I like you. A lot. I realized this morning that I like you more than I have ever liked anyone before. And to be honest with you, it scared the living hell out of me. I, uh, don’t always do the best with strong feelings. Every time I have had strong feelings for someone, something goes wrong and I’m left hurting.” 

She chanced a glance at Percy and saw him listening intently, eyebrows furrowed. She pushed on.

“I’ve never mentioned him before, but my high school boyfriend Luke really did a number on me. We were family friends since before we could walk. Finally, during my sophomore year and his senior, he asked me out. We dated for two years, and I was sure I was madly in love with him and we were going to get married and all that jazz. 

Anyways, he went to Stanford, and we promised we’d visit all the time, and then I was going to go to Stanford to be with him. I had just gotten my acceptance when I decided that I wanted to surprise him on campus to tell him the news. 

I texted his roommate to let him know I’d be stopping by, but I was only 40 minutes away, so his roommate couldn’t respond to me in time. 

When I pushed open the door to his room, I saw him and some random girl so tangled up I couldn’t tell who was who. All I know is that there were definitely no clothes involved. I was so heartbroken that I had to call my dad to come pick me up and drive me home, because I was crying too hard to drive.” 

Surprisingly, when Annabeth looked at Percy, she saw that he had a single tear rolling down his cheek. 

“So yeah, since then, I actually hadn’t even gone on a date until I met you. Like I said, I really really like you, but I’m terrified. I’m not saying that you would, but I don’t think my heart could handle another “Luke” situation.” 

After a few moments of silence, Percy realized that she was finally done speaking. He swallowed deeply and grabbed Annabeth’s hands firmly. 

She braced herself for what she surely thought would be a goodbye. 

Instead Percy shocked her by saying, “Annabeth, I think I love you.” 

Annabeth thought her eyes might pop out of her head. She was expecting Percy to nervously backtrack, or make some joke, but he continued on just as seriously. 

“It breaks my heart that you have had to go through such terrible times. I just want to promise you right here and now that I would  _ never ever  _ do anything like that to hurt you. I know we’ve only known each other for a short time, but I also have never felt this strongly about anyone before. I’m not going to lie, I’m a little scared too, but all I know is that I want you by my side.” 

Now it was Annabeth’s turn to cry. 

She must have done something really amazing in a past life to deserve someone like Percy in her life. Not only was accepting of her essentially baring her damaged heart to him, he opened up right back. 

There were no words that could possibly come close to expressing her feelings right now. So instead she kissed him. 

That seemed to be how she expressed herself a lot around Percy. She doubted that he minded. 

They pulled apart after a few seconds and stared deeply at one another. 

The question was burning on Annabeth's tongue but she was afraid to ask. Percy started to lean back in and she couldn’t hold it in anymore. 

“Do you really love me?” she blurted. 

Percy’s face immediately flushed red, and she’s pretty sure hers did too. 

“Yeah um,” he began incredibly awkwardly, “I know it’s like really early in our relationship. Like really early. But honest to god Annabeth, I really think I do. I’ve never felt like this before. I hope it doesn’t scare you off- but I love you. I do.” 

Annabeth let out a breath she didn’t even realize she was holding in. 

“I think I love you too,” Annabeth said, barely above a whisper. 

Percy grinned, then finally leaned in and kissed her passionately. 

They probably would have stayed like that for hours on end, but it was interrupted by Percy’s phone buzzing on the counter. 

He sighed, “I should probably check that. Just make sure it’s not my mom or something.” 

Annabeth smiled at the thought of how often Percy and his mom communicate. She found it incredibly adorable. 

“Ooooooh” Percy said excitedly. 

“What is it?” Annabeth asked as she finally got their breakfast started. She had forgotten how hungry she was during their heart to heart. 

“Piper wants to know if you’d be interested in a double date with her and her boyfriend Jason.”

Annabeth couldn’t stop the smile that crossed her face, “Yeah, I think that’d be really nice.” 

Percy pumped his fist in the air, and Annabeth rolled her eyes at her childish boyfriend. 

It wasn’t until after breakfast (which Percy ate alarmingly fast) that Piper responded with details for the date. 

Tonight, they were all going to meet up at Piper’s favorite restaurant, which somehow none of them had been to, and then walk around Central Park and see where the night would take them. 

Annabeth was really excited to spend more time with Piper, and obviously with Percy too. She was also quite curious to meet Jason. The way that Percy talked about him made it sound like they were super close, so she was intrigued to meet another of Percy’s friends. 

Percy bid her farewell shortly after breakfast, as he had some errands to run this evening. They promised to meet at the corner right outside of her apartment at 5:45. 

After he left, Annabeth took some time for herself to just read for a bit. As much as she loved Percy, she loved time for herself to think too. 

_ Whoa,  _ Annabeth thought,  _ I love Percy. _

Part of her was scolding herself because Annabeth was NOT one of those girls who falls in love with someone after a few weeks. But, a larger part of her was absolutely rejoicing over the fact that she finally found someone with whom she just clicked. 

Everyone dreams of finding that person, and Annabeth had closed off her heart so much after Luke that she was starting to think she had no chance at a love like that. Then Percy strolled into her life so casually, and she was left defenseless. 

It’s like they always say, you find love when you aren’t looking for it. 

_Oh god_ _I’m even reciting cheesy love quotes,_ Annabeth thought worriedly to herself, _what have I gotten myself into?_

Annabeth decided to lose herself in her reading so she could forget about how cheesy she was acting now. 

Unfortunately, Annabeth can get absorbed a little too easily. When she finished her book, she realized that she hadn’t checked the time all day and let out a little yelp when she found out it was already 5:35. 

She scrambled into her room and started throwing things around her closet trying to find an acceptable double date outfit. After a few minutes, she found a nice blouse and skirt combo that was fancy, but still kind of cute and flirty. She hoped that it would be fine for whatever they ended up doing that night. 

She quickly brushed through her hair and applied a minimal amount of makeup. Looking at her alarm clock, she saw it was already 5:47. 

Annabeth’s heart was racing. She was never late. She felt immensely guilty as she looked outside and saw that was downpouring. That meant Percy was standing in the rain waiting for her. 

Snatching an umbrella up, she made it from her room to the first floor of the building it what had to be Olympic speed. The umbrella almost flew out of her hands as she opened it and proceeded to pretty much run to the corner. 

Percy was indeed waiting for her - with no umbrella. He was absolutely drenched but when he saw Annabeth, his whole face lit up. 

Annabeth opened her mouth to voice her apologies, and had just barely gotten out the word sorry before Percy belted out in song. 

“I DON’T MIND SPENDING EVERYDAY, OUT ON THE CORNER IN THE POURING RAINNNNNNNN”

Annabeth hurriedly clamped her hand over his mouth, while simultaneously covering him with the umbrella. 

“No,” she said sternly, and cautiously removed her hand. 

Rather than singing, he leaned forward and looked like he was going to give her a kiss. Instead, he shook his head out like a dog and drenched Annabeth’s hair. 

Laughing at Annabeth’s murderous look, he moved closer and met her lips.  

Though he hadn’t finished singing the song, Annabeth could feel him pouring the words through his kiss. 

_ She will be loved.  _


	12. [Wedding] Bells Will Be Ringing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have been terrible at updating. Because I have been so bad, I pushed myself to write an extra long chapter for this update (more than 6,000 words!) Thanks again to anyone still following the story. There are only a few chapters left I have in mind, so stay tuned! 
> 
> Also fair warning, since I'm so impatient about getting this chapter published, I didn't really edit much. Hopefully nothing is too bad!

Percy and Annabeth sprinted through the doors of the restaurant, garnering a lot of attention from patrons and waitstaff alike. They quickly shook themselves and the umbrella off before Percy spotted Piper and Jason whispering to each other in the corner booth. 

He turned to Annabeth and grabbed her hand with a smile. When they arrived at the table, Piper jumped up, and surprisingly, ran to Annabeth first to give her a hug. Percy didn’t even have time to be upset because just then Jason popped up from the table. Immediately he was engulfed in a classic Jason bro-hug.

“Yo man, how have you been?” Jason asked as he clapped Percy’s back. 

Percy pulled away, but kept his and Jason’s hands clasped in the handshake, “I’m more than great man, how are you?” 

“Great, but I missed hanging out with you bro.” 

At this point, the two boys turned to see Piper rolling her eyes and Annabeth giving them an incredulous look. 

_ Oh yeah,  _ Percy thought to himself,  _ he forgot to share with Annabeth that he had a pretty serious bromance with Jason.  _

Luckily for him, Piper decided to take over right then and explain, “Percy and Jason have the biggest bromance I’ve ever seen. Sometimes I’m not even sure which one of us Jason is dating.”

“Oh Annabeth, we haven’t met yet,” The blonde haired man stepped forward, “I’m Jason, and no matter what Piper says I am most definitely dating her. She seems to forget about that ring I put on her finger,” he finished with a kiss on Piper’s cheek. 

Percy noticed Annabeth’s eyes dart down to Piper’s ring finger, where a  _ really _ nice engagement ring sat. Percy mentally cursed himself. He was going to bring up the wedding to Annabeth after she met Piper, but it completely slipped his mind that day.

See, the wedding was only 2 weeks away, and Percy was still very much dateless for it. He didn’t particularly care about going stag to the wedding, but he was the best man, and Jason had been putting a lot of pressure on him to bring someone. 

“Piper, why am I just hearing about this now?” Annabeth questioned lightly with her hands on her hips.

Piper grinned sheepishly, “I thought that this fellow over here would have filled you in already.”

“So Percy, are you bringing Annabeth to the wedding?” Jason asked, a conspicuous grin on his face. 

 

In all honesty, Percy was nervous about asking her to come with him. It was kind of late notice to be going to a wedding with a brand new boyfriend, especially when said wedding was being held about an hour outside of New York City. 

It was a conversation he’d been hoping to have in private to talk about all of the options, but apparently this was a conversation that was going to happen now. 

He glared at Jason, before turning to Annabeth and grabbing her hands. 

“I was going to ask you about this tonight, but I guess the impatient couple over here wants me to bring it up now.” 

Piper scoffed, “I can’t believe it took you this long to ask even! I’m glad we’re here!” 

“Anyways,” Percy rolled his eyes, “I just happen to be the best man. And I also just happen to be dateless as of right now. So, I was wondering if, maybe, you’d consider going with me? I mean, we’d have to figure out transportation and accommodations and whatnot, but I’m willing to figure it out if you want to come. Only if you want to- no pressure.”

“Goodness gracious, I can’t imagine how much of a blubbering mess this one is going to be when he asks you to marry him,” Piper dropped as if it were the most casual thing to say. 

Simultaneously, Percy and Annabeth flushed beet red and averted their eyes from one another. The awkwardness was palpable, but Percy couldn’t help but wonder if Annabeth was imagining proposals right now too. Shit, he was head over heels for this woman. 

He made eye contact with Jason, silently asking for help and, luckily, Jason understood. He wound his arm around Piper, 

“Ah, Piper is a bit, ah, ambitious when it comes to things involving romance. Please just ignore that comment,” Jason assured Annabeth. 

A small part of Percy was positive that Annabeth was just going to get up and walk out of the restaurant. But instead she turned and before taking a small sip of her water said, 

“That sounds delightful, I’d love to be there. When is it?”

“Two weeks from today,” Jason beamed. 

Annabeth slightly choked on her water, “Oh my that’s coming up fast. Luckily for you, I think I’m free,”

“Really, you’ll come?” Percy and Piper replied in unison, excitement evident in their voices.

“Of course,” she glanced back and forth between the two, “I wouldn’t dream of missing it.”

Percy wasn’t entirely sure which one of them that was meant for. He decided to just pretend it was him.

================================================================

The two weeks before the wedding flew by. The day after Annabeth was invited, Piper took her shopping to find a “bomb-ass dress” in Piper terms. Annabeth had been helping Piper finalize the details of her wedding as well. 

Apparently, despite only knowing her for a few days, Piper was really bummed out that Annabeth could not be one of her bridesmaids. Annabeth had been assured that she was one in spirit, though Percy wished she was sitting beside him in the wedding party limo. 

Twas the night before the wedding, and everyone in the wedding party was heading to the resort today because, for some godforsaken reason, Jason decided it was a good idea to have his bachelor party the night before the wedding. It sounded like a trainwreck of an idea to Percy, yet here he was, sipping on champagne with the rest of the group. 

Annabeth wouldn’t be arriving until shortly before the wedding tomorrow, and Percy was really missing her company already. He knew he should be focused on Jason right now, but his mind just kept drifting back to his girlfriend. 

If she was here they’d probably be laughing about something stupid he said, and then she’d lean over and hug him, while planting a kiss on his cheek. A year ago, if someone would have told Percy he’d be this sappy and missing a girl this much he would’ve ended up rolling on the floor in laughter. That said, he wouldn’t trade his sappy emotions for Annabeth for anything in the world. 

He pulled out his phone to try and discreetly text her, but Leo snatched it out of his hands before he could send the message. 

“Busted! No communication tonight my friend, this night is all about Jason and having a wild time”

Percy mumbled something about not wanting that before the teasing began.

“Ooooooh I bet Percy was texting Annabeth” Jason sang, clearly already buzzed. 

The raven haired boy sighed, settling in for what was surely going to be an incredibly long night. He decided he would open up to these guys a bit about his feelings for Annabeth. They were all people he trusted, and though the blonde-haired boy would never admit it, Jason was kind of a sucker for romantic drama. 

“Not going to lie, I was. I’m sorry, I just really can’t get her out of my mind. Ugh, is this how you felt about Piper?”

Jason chuckled, “Yeah man, I can tell that you’ve got it bad.” 

Percy dropped his head to his hands, “Yeah yeah I know. All this wedding talk has got me imagining a future with her. I didn’t even do that with Rachel.” 

Jason and Leo gave a knowing nod. Percy didn’t talk about her often, but Rachel was his serious girlfriend in high school/early college. He says early college, because they only did long distance for about 3 weeks before Rachel called things off. 

This was right after Jason and Leo had met Percy, so they got to experience the aftermath of that relationship but never actually met Rachel. He was so devastated when she broke it off, but looking back on it now, Percy hardly considers that a serious relationship. His feelings for Annabeth are so much stronger than any feelings he ever had for Rachel were. 

Percy was broken out of his thoughts by Leo brashly asking, “So, have you done her yet??” 

Whipping his head around incredulously, Percy was met with a smirking Leo wiggling his eyebrows. It really boiled his blood that Leo would ask about his and Annabeth’s sex life, as if that was even remotely close to the most important part of his relationship with her. 

Even Jason seemed to recognize that was crossing a line, 

“Dude, that is none of your business. Leo, c’mon,” he chimed in. 

Percy tried to mentally communicate his thanks, “Yeah, I really don’t appreciate you talking about Annabeth that callously, Leo. And, anyways, I’d wait till the ends of my days for her, if that’s what she wanted.” 

“Wow, you really are in deep,” Leo replied, barely looking sorry. 

Thankfully, the tense conversation was cut short, as the limo arrived at the resort. Percy practically ran out of the limo, grateful to have some space from Leo. Though they were friends in college, he found that his friend often rubbed him the wrong way when they hung out for long periods of time. 

Jason clapped Percy on the back when he passed, heading for the front desk. Percy opted to follow him to see if he needed any help checking in. Of course, it was an extremely straightforward check in, and Percy mostly just felt out of place. 

Once the room number was given, he trotted back to the limo to grab some of the bags and start toting them to the room. Tonight, all of the guys were sharing a room, but they each were getting their own tomorrow night. 

Percy would be forever thankful for Jason for this. Because Annabeth was such a late add-on, the hotel was already all booked up by the time she decided to come. They had agreed that her and Percy could share a room for a night, not wanting to cause any extra inconvenience to the already very stressed Piper and Jason. Percy just had to get through tonight, and then tomorrow he’d have Annabeth all to himself. 

He had to physically shake those thoughts out of his head as the 4 guys walked into the suite they reserved for the night. Percy’s mouth dropped open as he took in the vast expanse of the room. There were four bedrooms branching out from a shared living area, which was adorned with a fireplace and huge flat screen TV. A large balcony area also extended off of the living room, and Percy thought he spotted a hot tub out there.

Immediately the other 3 boys dropped their bags and started running around, soaking in the various features. It wasn’t long until Frank brought the beer onto the patio and the night really began. 

Percy had tried to ask what their plans were for the evening, eternally fearful that Leo would have hired strippers or something like that. Jason assured them that he really just wanted a night in with the guys, with maybe hitting up a local bar later in the evening. 

Even though he didn’t want to, Percy decided to shelve any thoughts of Annabeth and really try to enjoy his time with the guys tonight. Multiple beers later, the guys got out from the hot tub and all went to change, so that they could head to the bar. 

Percy realized he was pretty drunk at this point, but was also at the point of drunkenness where he wanted the alcohol to keep coming. He changed in a hurry, and in a blur, the group made it to the local tavern in town, Aunty Em’s

As soon as they sat down in a booth, Leo was up and gone. He came back in a few minutes, with a bartender trailing behind him carrying a tray of shots. 

“To the happy groom-to-be,” Leo toasted as they all raised their glasses. 

Percy had always hated shots, but figured he could suffer through one for his best friends wedding. He slammed the glass onto the table and must have had a weird look on his face because everyone immediately started laughing at him.

He was really feeling the alcohol now, and the drunker he got, the more his mind could only focus on Annabeth. He hadn’t even realized how much he had been bringing her up until Frank said with a chuckle, 

“Wow you’d think you and Annabeth were the ones getting married tomorrow.” 

This sobered Percy up, at least enough to realize that Jason was no longer sitting at their table. He quickly scanned the bar and noticed he was leaning against the bar. There was someone else with him though - a dark haired woman who was standing far too close. 

Despite his good looks, Jason had always been pretty oblivious to women hitting on him. It took him a full month of Piper flirting with him before he caught on. Percy wasn’t at all worried Jason would do something, he was far too good of a man for that, but he thought he could at least help Jason get rid of the woman. 

Strolling up to the bar, he patted Jason on the back, “Hey why don’t you go enjoy yourself and I’ll order your drink? Doesn’t seem right to have you paying on your big night anyways!”

Jason smiled lazily at him, eyes unfocused and nodded. As Jason walked back to the table, Percy realized he didn’t even know what the man was trying to order. Shrugging, he decided to just order another round of beers for everyone and they could suck it up if they didn’t like it.

He quickly got the bartender’s attention and placed the order. Turning back to look at the table, he realized that the brunette woman was still standing next to him. Standing a lot closer than she started too. 

“Um, hi,” Percy started, feeling immensely uncomfortable at the proximity. 

“Hey there. Why did you take blondie away from me? Not that I’m complaining about the replacement” She raked her eyes down Percy’s body. 

Percy tried to discreetly take a step back and distance himself from the very forward woman, but she seemed to notice and took a step with him. 

“Well, um, that’s Jason and he’s getting married tomorrow. So actually really off the market. Which coincidentally so am-” 

“That’s who Piper is marrying?” She questioned shockingly.

“Yeah,” he replied automatically, “Wait what? How do you know Piper?”

Percy was just a little too drunk to fully comprehend just what in Hades was happening right now. 

“Oh well, no matter. My name is Drew by the way. And you are...,” the woman cooed as she began stroking Percy’s arm. 

He had just opened his mouth to tell her that he was  _ really _ not interested when the bartender swooped in and saved the day, dropping off the beers. Swiftly, he picked them up and curtly replied,

“Percy. Well Drew, it was nice to meet you I guess, but I really have to get back to my friends now.” 

He was desperately trying to pass her and praying that he wouldn’t stop him. Just when he thought he was in the clear, he felt a small hand on his chest. Unfortunately, his hands were preoccupied carrying the beers, so he couldn’t pry her off. 

“Well Percy, if you’re looking for some fun later, give me a call,” she purred. Then he felt her hand on his butt as she slipped something into his back pocket. She then gave him a kiss on the neck, which made him shiver- but not in a good way.

When Annabeth kissed him, he got chills because it always felt so right, but this time he got the chills because everything felt so incredibly wrong. As soon as he was free of her grasp, he ran back to the table, only barely managing not to spill the beers.

Frank appeared to be the only one to notice the encounter, and bless his heart he actually asked Percy if he was okay when he sat down. 

Percy nodded in response, “Yeah. Yeah. I’m fine. Feel a little bit disgusted and that my personal space has been invaded, but no harm done.” 

Frank patted him on the back, then dropped the conversation. This was fine by Percy, as he still felt pretty uncomfortable about the encounter and didn’t really want to relive it.  He looked down at his beer forlornly, willing the night to go by faster, simply so he could be reunited with Annabeth sooner. 

Luckily for Percy, Jason got pretty tired not long after and convinced the guys to head back to the room, where they all promptly crashed. Percy fell asleep and had the strangest dream about a wedding and a girl with blonde curls and grey eyes……

================================================================

When Annabeth texted Percy that she had arrived, he was right in the middle of delivering an awesome pep talk to Jason, who was suffering from a mild case of pre-wedding jitters. Jason wasn’t having second thoughts, it was just really setting in how many people were coming today and how big of a life event this was. 

By the end of speech, Jason had calmed down considerably. Percy felt proud, maybe he should’ve been a motivational speaker or something. 

It was going to kill Percy to have to wait through the next 3 hours until the wedding starts to see Annabeth. And even then, he would be up at the altar with the other groomsmen, so we couldn’t even hug or kiss her. Ugh. 

Luckily for him, Annabeth was a fast responder, so they were exchanging texts almost nonstop throughout the morning. Someone else was trying to calm Jason down now, so Percy was taking a break for himself. After all, he was already dressed and there was no way he was going to be able to tame his hair- so he was calling himself ready. 

He was smiling down at his latest text from Annabeth when he heard a knock on the door. Looking up confused, he saw no one had even heard. He shrugged to himself, heading to the door, curious to see who could possibly be at the door.

Opening the door, Percy’s jaw dropped straight through the floor. Annabeth was on the other side, looking absolutely stunning. Her hair was down in natural curls around her face, and she had on dark eyeshadow, which really made her eyes stand out. What Percy was most hung up on was her dress, though. 

The dress was an iridescent blue ,which just happened to be Percy’s favorite color. As she shifted, it even appeared to change colors and shimmer.  On the top part (Percy really didn’t know dress terminology)- there were some jewels on the short sleeves and a slit just below the neckline. Now Percy is very much a gentleman, but he wasn’t going to lie, the dress massively showed off her cleavage. He loved it. Piper was right, it was most definitely a bomb ass dress. 

Annabeth grinned devilishly as she took in his appearance at the same time. At the time, Percy thought Jason’s choice of having the groomsmen wear suspenders and bowties was a silly one, but seeing the look on Annabeth’s face changed his mind singlehandedly.

Neither of them spoke for a few seconds until Annabeth finally communicated what she thought about his ensemble. She did this, by the way, by grabbing Percy’s suspenders and pulling him in for a rough kiss. Percy thought to himself that maybe he should wear suspenders more often. 

“You look incredible,Wise Girl,” he breathed.

Just as breathlessly, she replied, “And you don’t look so bad yourself Seaweed Brain.”

“Is it safe to come out now? Are you two done making out?” Leo called from the other room. 

Percy rolled his eyes, and was thankful when Annabeth took to responding, “Yes Leo. I just came to check up on you guys. Piper is freaking out a little bit and wanted me to do a scouting report to see if Jason was nervous too.” 

At this, Jason poked his head around the corner, relief evident in his eyes, “Piper is nervous too?” 

“Yes, she is. Just normal pre-wedding jitters. I figured you might be as well, and she wanted to know for sure. So how are you doing right now?” 

Jason flushed, “I’m a little nervous too, which is stupid, because I love her so much. Please tell her that I love her a ton, and I’m just nervous because I’m worried I’m going to fuck up or something like that.”

Annabeth gave Jason a kind smile and a small squeeze on the shoulder for reassurance. Percy on the other hand, pinched Jason’s cheek and remarked, 

“Aw it’s so adorable how nervous the soon-to-be-wed couple is.” 

Frank took this opportunity to jump into the conversation, “C’mon Perce, let’s be real. On your wedding day you are going to be an absolute wreck of nerves. 

Annabeth chuckled, but Percy just flushed and stayed silent. He got nervous just taking Annabeth on a date, so he was pretty sure Frank’s predictions weren’t too far off. 

_ Oh shit,  _ did he honestly just think about marrying Annabeth again? 

“Well, I better get back to Piper and give her a progress report. Then I actually have to go get a seat, since I won’t be up at the altar with all of you fancy people”

Percy kept forgetting that she wasn’t a bridesmaid because she fit in so seamlessly with the wedding party group. He walked her back to the front door, hoping to sneak another kiss (or two) before she left.

Before she opened the door, she turned towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck. 

“I really like Piper and Jason, but I wish they hadn’t stolen you away for the ceremony. I don’t really want to sit there all by my lonesome,” she said

“Trust me, I love those two, but I will be wishing the whole time that I could be holding your hand through it. Once we get through dinner at the reception, we can spend the whole rest of the night together. It’ll be wonderful,” he gave her a light kiss. 

“AND YOU LOOK WONDERFUL TONIGHTTTTT,” he broke out in song, which was followed by chuckles from the other room. 

Annabeth shook her head, “You and your damn singing.” 

She gave him one last kiss and winked before backing out of the room and saying, “I’ll see you up on the altar.” 

If only she knew the effect she had on his heart rate.

================================================================

Percy stepped up in line just in front of Jason, who was somehow even more nervous now. They were all at the back of the church, waiting for their cue to begin their procession down the aisle. He gave a reassuring squeeze on the blonde’s shoulders as the march music began playing and he had to turn around so he didn’t miss his cue.

Percy was paired up with Thalia, Jason’s sister as a maid of honor. Thalia, who was very much a punk kind of girl, managed to maintain her edgy look even with the bridesmaid dress. Percy had always felt like Thalia was a sister he never had, so he was happy that he was paired with her, rather than a distant cousin of Piper’s whom he had never met or something. 

Thalia glared at him harshly just before it was their turn to march, as if silently communicating that he better not screw anything up. Despite having known her for years, Percy still felt a little uncomfortable under her harsh glare. 

They stepped into the church, and Percy would be lying if he tried to deny that his eyes immediately began to search for Annabeth’s.Their eyes found each other remarkably fast, and it was as if every other person in the room simply disappeared from existence. 

He maintained eye contact until he reached her row, at which point he would have had to turn around. He thought that  _ might not  _ go over super well as the best man. While on the altar, he tried his very best to keep his attention on the aisle as Jason came down with his mom, but his eyes just kept drifting back to Annabeth. To his delight, her eyes were trained on him every time he glanced over. 

Finally, everyone was at the front except Piper. It was the big moment. He could hear Jason let out a deep breath in front of him as the wedding march began to play. When she came around the corner, Percy was pretty sure she knocked the breath out of everyone there. 

Piper usually didn’t flaunt her good looks, but she was today in full force. Percy saw Piper like a sister, but he still thought she looked like she could have been a wedding model walking down the runway. Percy smiled as she walked down the aisle alone, opting not to have her estranged father, Tristan McClean do the honor. It seemed like a very Piper thing to do, and Percy was proud of her for sticking to her guns. 

When she reached the front and Jason took her hand, Percy again let his eyes wander to Annabeth’s.They were sparkling with an excitement that he was sure was reflected in his own eyes as well. 

The ceremony flew by way too fast, and Percy almost missed his cue to present the rings. Piper and Jason exchanged heartfelt vows, and Percy teared up a little bit. It was kind of hard to believe that two of his best friends were getting married all because he introduced them freshman year. 

When they kissed for the first time as a married couple, Percy was leading the church volume-wise in his applause and cheering. Annabeth and him made eye contact again, and he could see happy tears shimmering in her eyes as well. A few times throughout the ceremony, Percy imagined him and Annabeth up here, and he wondered if she felt the same. 

Just as Jason and Piper got into their limo to go have some wedding photos taken of the two of them, Percy felt hands wrap around his waist.

“Oh no, I wonder who that could be?” He said mishievously. 

A low voice responded, “It’s John. From college.”

Percy whipped around laughing to find Annabeth with a wide grin plastered on her face. He greeted her with a kiss. 

“So how long do you have until you go take pictures?” she inquired. 

“Just about 30 minutes. Piper and Jason, or should I say, the  _ Graces _ , are taking some now of the two of them, and we’ll join in about 45 minutes.” 

Annabeth smiled, “I know I’ve only known them for a few weeks, but I just feel so incredibly happy for them. They really seem like they are a perfect match for one another.” 

“Yes they definitely do. Whoever set them up must be an incredible matchmaker,” Percy said arrogantly. 

She rolled her eyes, but still leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek. Just then, Percy’s parents came over, which led to a lot of hugs and a lot of catching up, even though it had only been about month since they had had dinner. 

Before Percy knew it, he was being dragged away by Thalia for photos. He walked backwards, promising Annabeth and his mom that he’d save dances for both of them. He wasn’t sure who seemed like they were more excited about it. 

================================================================

“Everyone please welcome Piper and Jason Grace!” The DJ thundered over the reception hall speakers. 

Percy, up at the wedding party table, was the first one to his feet, hollering along with Frank and Leo. Jason stopped a few times on the way to the table to give Piper a kiss, which normally would’ve warranted some teasing from Percy, but today he felt nothing but pure happiness for them. 

When the newlyweds reached the table at the front of the room, the DJ handed Piper a microphone. 

“Hello everyone! Thank you so much for being here. This is such a special day for us, but it wouldn’t be as incredible as it is without all of here supporting us. Dinner will be coming out in the next few minutes, so everyone dig in. After that we’ll really get the party started! Thanks again for all of your love and support.” 

She gave Jason a quick kiss and then sat down, smiling. Percy knew that Piper never really had a good home life, so he knew that having so many friends here for her meant the world. Their meals came out a few minutes later and Percy scarfed it down like his life depended on it. 

Though Piper’s dad wasn’t involved in the ceremony, he persuaded her to let him finance the reception. Since her dad was a celebrity, Percy wouldn’t be shocked if that steak he just ate was actually prepared by some celebrity chef working back in the kitchen. No matter what, he wasn’t going to complain- just scarf down as much food as he could tonight.

To calm his nerves about his impending best man speech, Percy decided to search the crowd for Annabeth. After a few seconds, he found her at the same table as his parents, holding a wine glass and laughing about something with Sally. 

The clinking of silverware against glass broke him out of his staring. Thalia was standing, ready to give her speech. She was hiding it well, but Percy could see the hint of a grimace on her face. 

“Hello everyone! Hope dinner was great! I wanted to take a few moments to talk about this bride and groom sitting here. Jason is my younger, and only brother. I’ve been fiercely protective of him ever since he was born. I remember when he was two years old, he put a stapler in his mouth (which he still has the scar from today). I was so upset at the stapler that I actually threw it in the trash an hour later.” 

Some people chuckled from around the room before Thalia continued, 

“For a long time, Jason and I depnded on each other. I don’t know how I would’ve made it through without him by my side, and the same goes vice versa. When he met Piper, Jason was the happiest I had ever seen him. Ever. It was unreal to watch the demons of his past dissolve away thanks to a bright eyed quirky girl. 

I literally can’t imagine anyone more perfect for her than him. Jason, I am so happy for you. You deserve all of the love in the world and more, and I’m glad you get to share it with this beautiful woman. Piper, we may not be the most functional family in the world, but the Graces are fiercely loyal to their own. You’re part of that now and we couldn’t be more excited for the new edition. Welcome aboard.” 

Thunderous applause roared from the reception hall. Thalia wasn’t really one to get sentimental, so her speech was exceptionally touching. Percy noticed multiple people who had teared up, including both Jason and Piper. They jumped up and joined in a group hug. 

Percy wasn’t sure exactly how he was supposed to follow a speech like that. He took a big swig of his wine to help calm him down as the group quieted. 

“Uh hello. My name is Percy, and my story with these two starts way back freshman year. I had just finished unpacking my stuff when a certain brown-haired girl poked her head into my room to introduce herself as the girl just down the hall. 

The way Piper and I hit it off you would’ve thought that we were siblings- ridiculous bickering included of course. I wanted everything and the world for this girl, and I still do. 

A few weeks later, I got paired up on a group project with a certain blonde haired Grace. Again, we hit it off and became fast friends. Any of you who know us know about our intense bromance.” 

At this, Jason raised a fist and gave Percy a fist bump, which produced a lot of laughs from the crowd. 

“After a few weeks, I thought to myself that these two kiddos seem like they would get along really well- maybe I should introduce them. I tried to play it off all cool like the sneaky matchmaker I was. I invited them both to a basketball game and then conveniently sat on the end so they’d be force to talk to each other. Afterwards, when the three of us were at dinner, I feigned a stomach bug just so they’d have some alone time to get to know each other. 

It’s hard to believe that that was 5 years ago and that I’m sitting here today with two of my best friends getting married because I thought I would be a good matchmaker. Maybe it’s a business I should look into,” he winked at Annabeth. 

“In all seriousness, these two have a love for each other that I have never seen before. I recognized it then and I definitely recognize it now. You two deserve each other and I wish you a lifetime of happiness, love, and stupid arguments over what to watch on TV. I can only hope that one day I will be so lucky and find love like yours.” 

At that last line, Percy lifted his eyes to Annabeth’s. To his delight, she blushed, but returned his eye contact with a small grin. Turning back to Piper, he saw that this exchange did not go unnoticed. She was giving him a knowing look, with one eyebrow cocked. 

Percy tried to ignore it as he raised his glass for the toast. Just like for Thalia, both Jason and Piper stood up and gave him big hugs. 

Next up was Piper’s dad, who against her better judgement, she let have a turn to speak. He gave some long dramatic speech that honestly sounded like it was scripted. Percy supposed it very well could have been.

Finally, it was time for the first dance. Jason led Piper to the dance floor, and they waltzed around gracefully  **(A/N: Ba dum tiss)** to “The Way You Look Tonight” by Frank Sinatra. During the dance, Percy sneakily made his way to Annabeth’s side, where he grabbed her hand and surprised her. 

They watched the newlyweds in happy silence, anxiously awaiting the next song so they could join in. After the dance concluded and Jason dipped Piper down for a dramatic kiss, “Aint No Mountain High Enough” came on. 

Percy led Annabeth onto the dance floor and they boogied and sang their hearts out. During the next slow song, Percy was softly humming the tune into Annabeth’s ear. She pulled back slightly before remarking, 

“You know, I don’t mind when you sing like this…” 

“You don’t like my singing otherwise, Wise Girl?” Percy pouted.

“I just don’t understand why you embarrass yourself so publicly while doing so?”

“Anything to make you smile, Annabeth. Who cares if I make a fool of myself if I can make you laugh.”

Again, Percy was proud of himself for saying the right thing as Annabeth’s cheek flushed red.

During the next fast-tempo song, Piper made her way over to them. By this point, all three of them were decently buzzed (thanks, open bar) and having a great time. When “Get Low” came on, the two girls danced as if they had everything synchronized. 

At one point, they even started sort-of grinding up on each other and Percy had to bite the inside of his cheek. He hated viewing women so objectively, but Annabeth just looked so  _ damn  _ irresistible. 

Percy couldn’t help but wonder if tonight would be the night they’d take their relationship to the next stage. They were sharing a bedroom after all… To be honest though, Percy was glad they had taken things as slow as they did. He had never had feelings as strong as the ones he does for Annabeth, and the last thing he would want is to is rush things and screw up. 

But it was starting to feel like him and Annabeth were impossibly close. He had never been this close with any woman before, and he was hoping she felt the same. 

Annabeth lightly touched his shoulder, “I’m going to run to the bathroom, I’ll be right back.” 

Percy nodded and made his way over to the bar to grab another round of drinks for them. As he grabbed his drinks and turned away from the bar, he noticed Annabeth coming back into the room. Perfect timing.

When he stepped onto the dance floor, he felt an arm snake around his waist. Confused since Annabeth was clearly on the other side of the room, he turned to see who was behind him. 

Drew. That girl who couldn’t seem to take a hint from the bar last night. Shit. 

“Hey Percy, it was great spending time with you last night. Maybe tonight we could spend even more time together,” she purred. 

Percy was pretty sure he just threw up a little bit in his mouth. They had talked to each for maybe a minute last night, he wasn’t sure why she thought that warranted a follow up conversation. 

“Listen Dani--”

“It’s Drew. And hey just think about it. You know how to find me,” with a wink, she grabbed one of the drinks and strutted off. Percy stood there gaping for a minute before he turned around, only to find Annabeth, standing there.

With her mouth wide open, he could see the tears threatening to break free from her beautiful grey eyes. 

_ No no no no. This can’t be happening _ , Percy thought to himself. 

“Annabeth, I promise I can…”

Annabeth stopped his rambling before it began with a hand raise. Her hand was visibly shaking. 

“Percy, I can’t. I just… I need to be alone and think for a while.” 

Without another word, Annabeth strode away from him and swiftly exited the ballroom. 

Percy went into full panic mode. Should he chase after her? Let her think about it for a while? Ask for advice from someone? 

What exactly is one supposed to do when the girl of their dreams walks out of the room and potentially of out of their life?

Percy decided to do the one thing he knew would make him feel better- he went to his mom for help. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the drama if you're upset. I debated long and hard about adding it in, but I just couldn't resist adding a little spice to the story. Trust in me, everything will work out in some way or another :)


	13. Is it Too Late Now to Say Sorry?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In finishing this chapter, I finally have a clearer picture of how I'm going to wrap up! 2 more chapters left, but expect a pretty big time jump to the next one. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Annabeth was running through the halls of the resort, tears streaming down her face, desperately wishing that she knew where she was going. All she knew was she needed to get away from the reception for a while and just think.

Thankfully, she rounded a corner and found an empty balcony overlooking the expansive gardens of the resort. After pushing through the door, she sunk down against the wall and let out a singular sob. 

Deep in her heart, she knew that Percy wasn’t the type of guy to cheat. He was far too loyal to ever do anything like that. However, the situation inside sure made it seem like it, and it sent her into a flurry of flashbacks about Luke. 

Percy had promised he’d never do anything like that to her, yet clearly  _ something _ had happened with that woman last night. Annabeth didn’t know what to think, and if there was one thing she feared almost as much as spiders, it was not knowing what to do.

Every fiber of her being wished this could have happened a different night. Tonight, she was supposed to be celebrating her new friends union and here she was sitting by herself, crying. 

Behind her, the door creaked open and her stomach dropped. She wasn’t going to lie, she was worried it was Percy- she wasn’t sure if she was ready to talk to him just yet. When she turned her head, she was incredibly surprised to see a wedding dress in the doorway. 

“ _ Piper,”  _  she exhaled. 

Piper gave her a sad smile, “Hey brainiac.” 

She gathered her wedding dress up in a bunch and gracefully sat down, impressively managing to not sit on a single part of it. 

“What are you doing here? You have a wedding to get back to!” Annabeth exclaimed.

Piper gave her a fierce stare, “Well, it’s hardly a wedding I want to enjoy if one of my newest friends runs out crying, and I find one of my oldest friends crying into the arms of his mother.” 

Before she could continue, Annabeth interjected, “Percy was crying?” 

Piper’s gaze softened incredibly, and she reached out to gently touch Annabeth’s hand, “Yes, he was quite distraught. Now what happened, love?” 

Annabeth took a shaky breath. She trusted Piper and the girl was marvelous with anything related to romance. 

“Well, the night had been going wonderfully. I was just coming back from the bathroom when a black-haired girl approached Percy and put her arms around him. I thought that maybe she had mistaken him for someone else at first, but then she called him by name and told him that she had a ‘great time last night.’ I don’t know what to think Piper.” 

By now, fresh tears were rolling down Annabeth’s face, and Piper pulled her in for a tight hug. 

“Oh Annabeth, I promise you it’s all going to be okay. If there is one thing I am positive about Percy, it is that he is  _ damn _ loyal, especially to his friends. I guarantee this is all just a big misunderstanding.” 

Annabeth nodded. Even if it was a misunderstanding, it didn’t get rid of the tightness that had nestled itself in her chest. 

“I guess,” Annabeth began, trying to voice her thoughts, “I guess I have just gotten so used to the bubble Percy and I have been in that I forgot there are probably other women who take an interest in him. Even though he isn’t the type of person to do something, it still just hurts to think of how easily it could happen.”

“Annabeth, look at me.” Piper demanded. 

Annabeth snapped her eyes to Pipers, always amazed by how commanding the woman’s voice was. 

“I know exactly what you’re feeling right now. I used to go through the same thing with Jason all of the time. But here’s the thing: both of those boys are honestly too oblivious to notice anyone but the two of us. Percy loves you. He hasn’t told me yet, and maybe he hasn’t told you yet either, but he’s my best friend. I can see it in his eyes. He would never, ever hurt you.” 

Annabeth managed to smile for the first time since the incident. She pulled Piper in for a close hug, hoping to communicate how happy she was to have a friend like her. 

Suddenly, Piper pulled away looking thoughtful. 

“Hey I just remembered something. What did you say this girl looked like? Do you remember what her name was?” 

“Um,” Annabeth began, curious as to where this was going, “She was tall, pretty skinny. She had black hair and was wearing a pretty skimpy dress. I think her name started with D? Like Dani or something?” 

“Drew,” Piper muttered, disgruntled. 

“Yeah that was what it was. Why?” 

“Annabeth, I know exactly what happened last night. I totally forgot about it until now, but Frank told me about it this morning.” 

Annabeth stared, shocked at Piper, “What happened!?!” 

“Okay, so you know that the boys were having their bachelor party last night right?” Annabeth nodded in reply.

“So they went to that local bar in town, and while they were there Drew, who happens to be my evil, vile, flirtatious cousin, started hitting on Jason without realizing who he was. Like I told you, the boy is damn clueless when it comes to women outside of me so he had no idea. Percy apparently went over to get Jason to sit back down and she started flirting with him.” 

Annabeth’s stomach twisted uncomfortably at the thought. Thinking of someone else flirting with Percy, especially when he was drunk was enough to make tears start to well up in her eyes again. Luckily, Piper didn’t notice and kept going with the story. 

“Percy, ever the hero, managed to escape from her clutches after just a few moments of awkward small talk, according to Frank. He came back to the table pretty shaken up from the unwanted attention. Frank said he didn’t push him to talk much about it, but it seemed like Percy was really uncomfortable with the whole thing.”

“So he didn’t even want to talk to her?” Annabeth questioned in a small voice. 

“No sweetie. See? I told you, he just doesn’t even think of anyone except you.” 

Annabeth smiled, but it quickly faded back into a frown, “Ugh, I’ve been such a drama queen tonight haven’t I? Percy is going to think that I don’t trust him. What if I’ve screwed everything up, Piper?”

“I promise you, you haven’t screwed anything. I guarantee the only reason Percy is upset right now is because he thinks he made you upset. Like I said the boy is mad for you.” 

Piper made to stand up, adding on, “Well Annabeth, you were right that I have a wedding to get back to. Can I send Percy out here to talk? That way you guys can clear everything up?” 

“Yes Piper, that’s a good idea.” 

Piper took a few steps, and was just opening the door when Annabeth jumped up, and ran to her. Engulfing her in a hug, Annabeth whispered, “Thank you so much. Thanks for talking to me. Thanks for taking time out of your night. Thank you for being my friend” 

Piper pulled back slightly from the embrace with a dazzling smile adorning her face.

“That’s what friends are for. Now don’t get into any shenanigans out here with Percy, I want to see you two back on the dance floor pronto.” 

Piper left Annabeth standing there with a rose colored brush dancing along her cheeks. Annabeth strode towards the edge of the balcony trying to contain her nerves. She honestly wasn’t sure what she should say to Percy yet, and he’d be walking through that door in mere minutes. 

Panic slowly started to seep in. What if they got in an argument? Their  _ first  _ argument? Annabeth wanted to say sorry, but since she was such a proud person, had always found uttering those words difficult. 

Her mind was racing so fast that she didn’t hear the door push open, Percy hesitantly slipping through and stepping onto the balcony. 

“Annabeth, I- I’m so sorry,” Percy’s voice cracked behind her. 

She whipped her head around, and felt her heart just about drop to the floor. Percy stood in front of her, hair disheveled as if he’d been running his hands through it non-stop (something she’d notice he’d do whenever he was stressed out.) His eyes were rimmed with red, and looked shiny with tears even now. Annabeth felt like a monster for making him feel this way. 

Without a word, she rushed to him and wrapped him into a tight hug. 

She whispered, “Percy, don’t be sorry. I’m the one…. I’m…. I’m sorry.” 

“Annabeth, I would never ever hurt you and I DEFINITELY would never cheat on you. Drew was just some woman who kept not picking up on my not interested hints. I’ve literally talked to her for a total of 2 minutes in my life. I know that it looked bad but Annabeth, I promise you, you are the only one for me.” 

Annabeth sat down, pulling Percy down with her, “I know, Percy. Piper explained everything to me. You know, I never really believed it to be true, I just was so confused? You are so loyal, Percy, and loving and caring and selfless. It was so incredibly terrible of me to forget all of those things because of a moment of self-doubt.” 

“So you’re not mad at me?” Percy asked, his puppy dog eyes shining in full force. 

“I’m not mad at you Percy, I never was. I’m sorry I didn’t handle things very well back there, but as you know, I have some trust issues and they just decided to rear their ugly head at the wrong moment.” 

Annabeth had finally shared her experiences running away from her parents and living in a home in which she felt unwelcome with Percy earlier that week. He, of course, had been so incredibly understanding and supportive. She really felt like she didn’t deserve him. 

His eyes widened as he made the connections between her parents, Luke, and what had just happened here. 

“Oh gods Annabeth, I’m so sorry. Even though it was all a misunderstanding I’m sure it must have been hard. I will do everything in my power to never make you feel any lack of trust ever again. 

With that, he pulled her into a warm hug and kissed the top of her head. 

Annabeth chuckled before divulging, “You know how I know that I love you? Even through all of that drama, the only thing I really wanted was for you to come and comfort me and give me a hug.” 

“Trust me wise girl, that’s all I wanted too.”

Wanting to see her smile again, Percy belted out, " _IS IT TOO LATE NOW TO SAY SORRY?_ " 

Annabeth guffawed before crashing her lips onto his with possibly more passion and love than ever before. It felt good to be back to normal again. 

Percy’s hands came to her waist and started to drift a little lower when Annabeth pulled away abruptly. Panicked, Percy readied to apologize again, thinking he had pushed the boundaries, but found Annabeth smirking at him.

“Piper told me no shenanigans on the balcony. Now c’mon, let’s go back inside.” 

As she passed Percy, she leaned into him and whispered, “I guess we can save the shenanigans for later tonight.”

Annabeth confidently pushed through the door leaving Percy standing, gawking in the middle of the balcony. Realizing the implications of this, he practically ran to catch up with Annabeth, thanking all of his lucky stars for the gift that was Annabeth Chase. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The night passed by quickly after that- Percy and Annabeth barely ever leaving each others’ arms. Once Piper and Jason bid the guests farewell for their honeymoon in Greece, the party started clearing out. 

After finishing their most recent round of drinks, Annabeth turned to Percy and in the sexiest voice she could manage whispered, “Hey handsome, want to get out of here.”

Percy nodded emphatically and grabbed her hand, leading her to the area of the resort which housed the rooms. Just before putting the key in the door he paused, fidgeting with his hands. 

“Annabeth, I just want to tell you something. I honestly thought I might lose you tonight and I am really glad you’re here.” 

“Well, Percy, I’m quite glad I’m here too. Maybe we can do something to celebrate?” 

“Oh yeah? Got any ideas?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow while he opened the door. 

“Maybe a few,” she replied, pulling him by his suspenders into the room and slamming the door behind them. 

They celebrated, alright. 

  
  
  



	14. I've Got a Proposal For You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 more chapter to go! 
> 
> Happy holidays to you and yours!

Things were going well. Actually, well may not even completely cover just how in love Percy was with Annabeth. They celebrated their two year anniversary just a few weeks back. Percy had completely surprised her and it was something he was _still_ proud of.

He had told her that they were going to spend the day out and about in downtown, but in reality he had booked a cabin in Montauk. Annabeth was quite confused when he told her to get in the car and put a blindfold on, but it was all worth it for the smile that adorned her face when she stepped out of the car at the beach.

The one part of Percy’s story he hadn’t shared with Annabeth yet - the part about his birth dad- could only be told at Montauk, surrounded by waves, sand, and beauty. She had listened intently and had given him so many hugs as he told the tougher parts of the tale.

It was incredibly liberating for Percy to realize that Annabeth is the only person in his life that he has trusted with all of his secrets. He knew he loved her, but something about baring all of your soul to a person makes you connected in a way that goes so much deeper.

Which is why Percy wants to marry her.

This isn’t exactly a shocking revelation- he’s been dreaming of marrying Annabeth since just a few weeks into their relationship. However, now that there was real intent, and Percy was physically at a ring store, it was all starting to feel real.

Nervous butterflies had taken up permanent residency inside his stomach as he strolled around the store, searching for the perfect ring. What if he got one and she didn’t like it? Can you even return diamond rings?

The salesman came up behind Percy, “Are you looking for anything in particular I can help you find?”

Though Percy knew he was just trying to be helpful, it served to stress him out even more by reminding him that _he had no idea what he was doing._ Part of him contemplated telling the guy that.

“Um, I’m not really sure exactly what I want to be honest. All I know is I want it to be something unique.”

“Okay, we have quite a large selection of non-traditional rings. Perhaps you could tell me a bit more about the lucky lady or fellow, and I can see if we have anything that might be special?”

Percy nodded. It seemed like a good enough plan.

“Yeah, well she is wicked smart. Loves architecture and owls. Her favorite color is gray, but she also really loves green too.”

Right when he said that, the man’s eyes lit up, “I have the perfect ring. Let me go grab it.”

Percy was left standing with his hands in his pockets, awkwardly strolling around as he waited for the man to return from the back room. When he finally emerged, he was clutching a small ring in between his forefinger and his thumb.

Once he was close enough that Percy could actually see the ring, he nearly gasped. It seriously was perfect. The silver band was composed of what looked to be feathers, and nestled right in the middle was an emerald stone, nearly identical to the color of his eyes. **(A/N seriously check out this beautiful thing** [ **here** ](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/b5/a3/d4/b5a3d402424cde3e304f2a74a4309ee6.jpg) **)**

Right away, he knew Annabeth would love it. He suddenly had no doubts. Alarmingly fast, he told the man that he would take it. Before they started talking about payment plans, another thought crossed into Percy’s mind.

“Can you engrave this?”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Percy this is beautiful! I can’t believe how grown up you are already!”

Sally set down the ring box on the table and pulled her son in for a tight hug. Naturally, the first person Percy wanted to show the ring to was his mom. He had to make sure that he approved before he went through with his plans.

When he pulled away, he was surprised to see tears glistening in his mom’s eyes.

“Mom, are you alright?” Percy asked, voice laced with concern.

“I’m just so happy for you, Perce,” she said, sniffling a bit, “I’m so incredibly proud of the man you’ve become and can’t even tell you how thrilled I am that you are getting the happy ending you deserve.”

Percy was suddenly blinking back tears of his own. His mom had had a rough time finding her own happy ending- first was the tragedy with his father, then the horrible times of living with her first husband, Gabe, before finally finding Paul.

Honestly he was at a loss for words, so he settled for pulling his mom back into a hug and placing a kiss on her cheek.

“I love you, mom,” he whispered in her ear.

When they finally pulled away, Percy picked up the ring box and stuffed at back in his pocket, not wanting to lost it.

“Annabeth is a wonderful woman, Percy,” Paul piped up.

“You don’t have to tell me twice, Percy replied, earning chuckles from his parents.

“Now go propose and make it official,” his mom said, vaguely gesturing to the door.

“But first, blue cookies?” Percy pleaded with his best puppy dog eyes.

Sally nodded, “Only if you promise to share with Annabeth,”

“I think I can do that,” Percy responded with a smile.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If Percy was being honest, he had known how he was going to propose to Annabeth for months now. The problem was, he needed some help in order to do it. He pulled out his phone and called Piper. She agreed before he had even finished asking for her help.

Within the hour, he was at their house. Jason opened the door and enwrapped Percy in an epic bro hug. A minute later, Piper came around the corner, with the traces of a rounded stomach starting to show through her shirt.

Piper had called Percy and told her she was pregnant a few months ago, but this was the first time Percy had seen her. He knew it was cliche, but she _did_ look like she was glowing.

“Looking wonderful Piper. And since this is the first time I’ve seen you two since the news, CONGRATS! I fully expect the little tike to be named after me,” Percy exclaimed.

Piper rolled her eyes, “In your dreams, Jackson.”

“So Perce,” Jason clapped him on the back, “I hear you’re going to be popping the big question!”

Percy rubbed the back of his neck a little nervously, “Yeah, I’ve been thinking of it for a while and it just feels like the right time, you know?”

Piper went into the kitchen to make them some tea while Jason and Percy settled in on the couch. Percy took the moment to ask Jason an embarrassing question.

“Hey Jason, I have to be honest right now. So I know that Annabeth loves me and I can’t imagine her saying no, but I still feel a bit nervous. Did you ever feel that way with Piper?”

Jason gave him a knowing smile, “Don’t worry man, I felt the same way. I think it’s totally normal to feel a little nervous. It’s a big question. But like you said, there’s no way that Annabeth is going to say no.”

“Thanks. It just helps to hear that I’m not the only one who felt a bit nervous.”

Piper came back into the room with their tea and eased herself down next to Jason.

“So Percy, you said you needed a bit of help to propose to Annabeth. What did you have in mind?”

Percy leaned forward to share his plan, and by the end, Piper was practically squealing.

“Oh my goodness Percy, that is so adorable! I’m so proud of you, you little romantic,” she said while messing with Percy’s hair.

“I’ll get right to calling people and recruiting,” Jason stood with a smile.

Percy got out his own phone and started calling people. After an hour, they had recruited enough of their friends and scheduled the date and time. Things suddenly felt really real, and Percy was glad that Piper and Jason were there to wrap him in a hug and calm his nerves.

As he was leaving, Piper made him promise that she would get to a bridesmaid in the wedding.

He was sure that would be an easy promise to keep

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since Annabeth was the lead of her most recent project, she and Percy rarely got to meet up at the steps anymore. Percy missed their lunchtime adventures, but knew that this was the biggest project of Annabeth’s life. He was happy that she was getting to pursue her dreams.

Luckily for him, Annabeth had managed to negotiate enough time with her boss so that they could still meet at the steps every Friday. He smiled to himself as he walked to the steps today, thinking of the first time they met here.

It was hard to believe how far they had come since then. It was also hard to believe how lucky Percy had gotten in finding a woman like Annabeth.

As he approached the steps, he was pleased to see Annabeth already sitting there, wearing dark wash jeans and a light blue blouse. She stood up as he approached and gave him a light peck.

They immediately dug into the Chinese takeout Percy had picked up on his way there. He asked about how her project was going, and Annabeth launched into incredible detail. All of it went right over Percy’s head, but he loved watching her talk about something so passionately.

Really, he loved everything about her. A small smile crept across his face as he thought about that, and Annabeth stopped talking, raising an eyebrow.

“What are you smiling about Seaweed Brain?” She asked.

“Nothing, I just love you,” he replied before giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Annabeth blushed (and Percy relished in the fact that he could still make her blush after two years) and continued rambling on about her project.

All too soon, Annabeth checked her watch and swore under her breath.

“Well, I have to go now, Percy. Thanks for meeting me, this was extremely necessary.”

“It’s always my pleasure, Wise Girl,” Percy replied, bowing deeply.

After a long embrace, Annabeth began to walk away before Percy ran to catch up with her.

With slight desperation in his tone, he asked, “Same time next week?”

“Of course, Percy,” she placed a hand on his arm before turning and actually leaving. The whole walk back she was confused as to why Percy had sounded so nervous about their meeting next week. She must have been imagining it.

Meanwhile, Percy was still standing on the steps with a small smile on his face. Only one more week to go.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next week passed in the blink of an eye. Far too fast for Percy’s liking. Obviously he was excited to propose, but he was also a ball of nerves.

Thursday night, he was attempting to watch TV and calm his nerves when he heard his phone buzz. He practically jumped off the couch, eager for something to distract him, when he saw it was a text from Annabeth.

 **[7:12]** **_I can’t wait to see you at lunch tomorrow, Seaweed Brain :D_ **

**[7:13]** _To say I’m excited would be an understatement_

 _And nervous,_ he thought to himself. But he couldn’t exactly tell Annabeth that, or she might get suspicious.

They chatted for a few hours about Annabeth’s work and their plans for the weekend. With every  minute, Percy could feel himself getting more anxious. He was eternally grateful that they decided not to hang out tonight, because Annabeth would definitely be able to tell something was up.

After bidding her goodnight, he went to his room, ready for bed himself. Before going to sleep, he pulled out the ring box and looked at it one last time. Tomorrow when he went to bed he would be an engaged man.

He had decided to take the Friday off to ensure he had enough time to get everything ready. Thankfully, this allowed him to sleep in and take a little bit of extra time trying to make himself look nice.

For a while, he had considered wearing a suit to propose, but after talking it over with Piper, they both agreed that Annabeth isn’t really the type of woman to care what how fancy he dressed when proposing. Therefore, he decided on wearing Annabeth’s favorite light blue checkered shirt, which she had coincidentally bought for him, and a pair of fitted khakis.

Before leaving, he double checked that he had everything. Phone? Check. Bouquet? Check. Ring? Major check. He was ready. Well, at least as ready as he’ll ever be.

When he finally arrived at the steps, he was excited to see Piper and Jason already waiting for him there.

Jason walked over to him and brought him in for a tight hug while asking, “You ready to do this?”

Percy just nodded, not fully trusting his voice at the moment. Piper gave him a knowing smiling and rubbed his back slightly.

“You’re going to do great. Annabeth has been eagerly awaiting this, and I can assure you she has no idea this is coming,” she assured him.

Percy nodded, and felt his nerves slowly start to ease up as more and more of his friends showed up. Piper had even managed to get a few of Annabeth’s friends to come, and they were all grinning at him, which inspired some confidence within him.

Before he knew it, it was 11:55. Almost showtime.

Jason went down in front of the group and gave an impressive whistle, “Alright people, she’ll be here in 5 minutes. Places, everyone!”

Immediately, everyone started shuffling around on the steps. Piper had to ask a few people to move over so that the group could make their shape. Percy watched anxiously, worried they’d be upset that he was disturbing their lunch plans, but once Piper mentioned that it was for a proposal, everyone gave him a soft smile and happily moved. One woman even wished him good luck.

Percy stood below the group, making sure the heart outline that they were forming was coming along nicely. When Percy was satisfied that it actually looked like a heart, he went to stand in the middle of everyone. He began rehearsing the speech he prepared in his head while his friends chattered nervously around him.

Finally, Annabeth came around the corner. Percy’s breath left him immediately. He was about to ask this beautiful woman to be his wife and he wasn’t sure what he did in a past life to deserve this, but at the moment, he couldn’t find it in him to care.

Annabeth smiled at the scene, before scanning the crowd, not realizing this was for her yet. When her eyes scanned back over the heart, she finally noticed Percy standing within it, and her eyes shifted to some expression between confused and hopeful.

As she approached, she noticed all of their friends there, and asked Piper what was going on.

Piper stepped out of her place to allow Annabeth to enter inside of the heart and whispered as she walked by, “You’ll see, baby girl.”

Annabeth’s heart was racing, but it was nothing compared to Percy’s. This was it.

When she walked up to him, Percy guided her so that she was a few steps above him and their heights were evened out. She cocked her head to the side, about to open her mouth and question him.

Now that she was right here in front of him, Percy forgot about his nerves. Hell, he even forgot about all of the other people who were watching this right now. All that mattered was Annabeth.

“Hey Wise Girl,” he began with a smirk. He handed her the bouquet, which he had made (with Piper’s help, of course.) It was in the shape of flowers, but the petals were made of book pages instead. Annabeth’s eyes lit up immediately and he knew he made the right choice.

“Almost every single day, I thank my lucky stars for bringing you into my life. You are the most intelligent, caring, overall amazing woman I have ever met. We complement each other in so many ways. You’re the salt to my pepper. The superhero to my sidekick. The R2D2 to my C3PO”

Annabeth was laughing, but Percy could see the tears shining in her eyes. He was pretty sure she had figured out what was happening. The love that shone in her grey irises gave Percy a second breath of energy, and he pushed forward with his speech.

“I’m not sure how I lived before you, because now I can’t even imagine a life without you. I would spend every day for the rest of my life listening to you talk about palladian windows and ionic columns if it meant I could be near you. If you’ll have me, I’d like to be your something permanent.”

Early in the relationship, Annabeth had shared with Percy that because of her troubled home life, she had always seeked to build something permanent. It was one of the things that drew her to architecture, but Percy quickly realized she wanted something more than that. At that last line, Annabeth brought her hands up to her mouth, but Percy wasn’t quite done yet. He dropped down on one knee.

“I know I may be a Seaweed Brain, but _WHO CARES BABY? I THINK I WANT TO MARRY YOU!”_ he belted out as he reached into his pocket and opened up the ring box.  

He heard Annabeth gasp as she appraised the ring. Percy thought that the second that had passed since he asked felt like an eternity, but Annabeth had almost no hesitation before practically shouting a resounding ‘yes’.

He felt a smile of mammoth proportions make its way onto his face as Annabeth pulled him up and into a passionate kiss. The sounds of their friends cheers filled their ears, but all either could think about was the other.

They pulled apart, and Percy pulled out the ring and deftly placed it on her finger. Annabeth alternated between staring incredulously at the ring and at her _fiance_.

After a few moments, their friends rushed to them, wanting to give them all congratulations. Piper was probably the most excited, and she didn’t miss a chance to assert (again) that she needed to be a bridesmaid at the wedding.

After about 20 minutes, their friends all left, wanting to give Percy and Annabeth some time to themselves. The two dropped down on the steps, holding hands and leaning on one another.

“Ugh, I have to go back to work after this,” Annabeth groaned.

“Or you could play hooky and spend the day celebrating with me,” Percy said,while wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Annabeth chuckled, initially thinking there was no way she could do that, but then she remembered that she had worked extra hard earlier in the week and was actually ahead of schedule currently.

She raised an eyebrow at Percy while she reached for her phone and dialed a number. The smile and happy dance that Percy did as she told her boss that she wouldn’t be able to come in for the last part of the day was something that she would never forget.

She also would never forget the rest of that day. They got ice cream, sat at the pier for a while, strolled through Central Park, and yeah, had some pretty intense celebratory sex. At around 10, Percy decided he needed to leave, since he covered an early morning shift on Saturday so he could get off work that day.

As he stood in the doorway, Annabeth placed her left hand on his chest. She shook her head slightly as she admired the ring, still feeling like she was in a dream. Percy brought her out of her trance as he pressed his lips to her ear.

“Farewell, Ms. Soon-to-be-Jackson,” he whispered.

Annabeth shivered and responded by feverishly bringing her lips to his. After a few minutes of making out in the doorway, Percy finally peeled himself away and left. Annabeth shut the door and leaned against it, sighing. She was trying to memorize just how happy she felt right now, because she had never felt this way before. And it was wonderful.

She wandered back to her room and tried to sketch a few building designs, but found her mind couldn’t focus on anything other than Percy. Putting her pencil down, she dreamily looked at the ring on her finger.

It was the most beautiful ring that Annabeth could imagine. She slipped it off the inspect it closer, realizing as she did so that the reason she loved the green gem so much is that it exactly matched Percy’s eyes.It was seriously as if the ring was made just for her, and she was burning with curiosity as to how Percy had managed to get it.

As she twisted it around in fingers, she noticed something on the inside. She brought it closer to the light and when she found what was engraved on the band, tears welled up in her eyes.

_Something permanent._

 


	15. FINALE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS IT!!!! This is the last chapter!! Hope you enjoy!
> 
> This is my first multi-chapter fanfiction that I'm completing and it feels so good. Thanks to anyone who's read along the way, and especially those who have been supporting throughout! 
> 
> Truly, this means a lot to me, so thanks! Now, enjoy some wedding cheesiness!

The day was here.  _ Holy shit the day was here. _

Yeah, Annabeth may have been freaking out a little bit. It was mostly excitement, but also a little bit of nerves. 

She wasn’t nervous in the slightest about marrying Percy. In fact, she had been ready for this since embarrassingly early in their relationship. No, she was nervous that they were doing this in front of so many people.

Honestly, if Annabeth had it her way, she would’ve gotten married in a courthouse with just Percy’s parents and a few of their friends as witnesses. Percy and Piper had convinced her that this was such a special day and therefore deserved a relatively big celebration. She stared out of the window at the shores of Montauk, happy that they were getting married in such a beautiful place at least.

It just felt weird that Annabeth would be pouring her heart in her vows in front of about 100 guests, more than half that she didn’t know (apparently Percy had a very large extended family). 

Piper came over and placed her hand on Annabeth’s shoulder, jolting her out of her reverie.

“You ready, you beautiful, blushing bride to be?” she questioned.

“Yes. No. Maybe?” Annabeth sighed, “Pipes you freaked out a little bit before your wedding, what got you through? This is normal, right?” 

Piper kneeled down in front of the chair where Annabeth was seated, “Yes, this is normal. It is a big event in your life so it’s natural to feel a little bit of nerves even if you’re sure of your decision. For me, I would freak out whenever I would really think about the crowd and the wedding itself, but thinking about sharing the moment with Jason always helped calm me down.” 

Annabeth closed her eyes and imagined walking down the aisle of empty church, Percy waiting at the other end. A soft smile graced her lips and she felt her nerves slip away.

“Piper, you are simply the best. You know that?” Annabeth said while crushing Piper in a hug. 

“Yes yes, I know. Now it’s time to finish up your hair, missy!” 

==========================================================

About an hour before the ceremony, Jason popped his head through the door. Piper forgot all about her fussing over Annabeth and immediately ran into his arms. After a few quick kisses (and one long one), Jason leaned around Piper to address Annabeth. 

“How are you holding up Miss Chase?”

Annabeth shrugged, “I feel super excited one moment, and then feel near hyperventilation the next.” 

Jason, having walked over to her, put a hand on her shoulder, “Well, I’m sure Pipes has been giving you a buttload of pep talks, but if it makes you feel better, I felt the same way. The day is going to fly by and you’re going to love every minute of it.” 

Jason gave her a reassuring smile, which she easily returned. 

“Now for the real reason I’m here. The photographer would like to know if you want to do a first look with Percy in about 5 minutes.” 

Annabeth blinked a few times, surprised. In all of their wedding planning, she and Percy had somehow forgotten to discuss whether or not they wanted a first look before the wedding started. Did Percy want to do this? It felt wrong to make this decision for him. 

As if he could read her mind, Jason spoke up again, “The photographer checked with Percy a few minutes ago and he’s up for it- he said that it was up to you whether you wanted to do it. Oh and also he said no pressure and that, and I’m quoting here, ‘she’s going to look unbelievably stunning whether I see her before or during the ceremony.’” 

This, she realized, was an opportunity for her and Percy to have a special moment just to themselves (well, minus the photographer.) It was exactly what she wanted right now, so the word “yes” was out of her mouth before she even realized she had made the decision.

Jason gave her a blinding smile and told her the photographer would be in to grab her in just a few minutes. Piper followed Jason out the door, which left Annabeth smiling to herself at the vanity in her dressing room. She grabbed her bouquet and examined herself in the mirror, trying to imagine what Percy’s reaction would be. 

Luckily, she didn’t have to wait long, as the photographer knocked then and led Annabeth out of the room. 

“Percy is already waiting for you, and boy, is that man anxious to see you,” the photographer laughed, causing Annabeth to chuckle as well. 

“So when we get there, Percy will be facing away from you. I’ll run ahead to take a few shots of his face while you approach from behind, then obviously some shots as you lovebirds see each other face to face. I doubt you’ll even remember that I exist, but just try to pretend I’m not even there,” she instructed Annabeth. 

Annabeth nodded, too filled with every sort of emotion to try and speak. The photographer offered her hand as Annabeth stepped off the sidewalk and onto the sandy beach. Now Annabeth could see Percy standing in front of her and Her heart swelled as she noticed the faintest hint of blue from his bowtie standing out against his sharp, well-tailored black suit. 

He was tapping his foot and drumming his fingers against his legs- his telltale signs of when he was really antsy about something. Like the photographer had predicted, all thoughts that weren’t revolving around Percy immediately left Annabeth’s head. 

Her feet carried her forward of her own accord as she tried to think of the best way to surprise him. He must’ve known she was behind him because his whole body stilled once Annabeth got within a few feet. 

“Waiting for a hot date, Mr. Jackson?” She teased, impressed with how normal her voice sounded. 

“Well soon to be Mrs. Jackson, actually -” Percy trailed off as he turned around, catching full sight of Annabeth. 

They gazed at each other in awe for only a few seconds before Percy surged forward to pull Annabeth into a breathtaking kiss. 

“You know, you’re supposed to wait until after the priest gives you permission to do that,” Annabeth attempted to say sarcastically, but it really just came out as a breathless whisper. 

“Don’t. Care. You’re. Stunning. I’m. So. Lucky.” Percy punctuated each word with a kiss. 

The photographer stepped forward and Annabeth blushed as she remember that photographs had been taken of that encounter. 

“The ceremony is set to begin in about 45 minutes. I’ll give you two some time to be alone,” she finished with a smile. 

Annabeth exhaled, “Holy Hera, 45 minutes.” 

“Are you nervous?” Percy asked, concerned. 

Annabeth gave a small chuckle, “A bit. Why did we have to invite all of these people?” 

“What do you mean?”

“I just mean that, I love you so much. I love this moment right here. It feels so intimate and how it  _ should _ feel as we’re joining together for life. I hope I don’t sound like I’m unhappy with the wedding, I just really want it to be a special moment for the two of us, and I’m really nervous about saying my vows in front of all those people.” 

When Percy didn’t respond immediately, Annabeth lifted her head off his shoulder. She was met with Percy wearing a devilishly handsome smirk. She knew that look, it was his troublemaker look.

“I know just what to do. Wait here,” he said, and turned without pause to walk back up to the hotel which was serving as their venue. 

“What?!?!” Annabeth called after Percy, “where are you going?” 

“Just trust me, Wise Girl. I’ll be right back, I promise.”

“Okay, but hurry! There’s not much time before the ceremony!” 

Winking at her, he turned and started running up the beach. She watched him until he disappeared into the building, thoroughly confused about what was happening. 

Eventually, she turned to the ocean and decided to let the soothing rhythm of the waves calm her. The ocean always reminded her of Percy, and that was only amplified at the moment. The smell of sea salt that seemed to always follow him, the color so close to that which swirled in his eyes. 

After only a few minutes, Annabeth heard Percy calling her name. She turned around and saw Percy walking with… Grover, Piper and Jason? Strolling towards them, she waited expectantly for Percy to explain. 

Grinning hugely, Percy asked, “So you want a special moment just between the two of us? No guests,right?” 

Annabeth nodded mutely. 

“Well, Grover here may or may not be ordained in the state of New York.”

“Does that mean…” Annabeth trailed off, heart thumping wildly. 

“We can get married right now. On this beach. Just you and me. Okay,well, technically Grover since he’s going to be officiating and Piper and Jason since they’re our witnesses.” 

Annabeth was on the verge of tears. She decided to thank Percy the best way she knew how- a fierce kiss.

“Seaweed Brain, you are officially the most wonderful person I’ve ever met.”

“Alright, alright you two. Let’s break it up- there will be plenty of time for that in just a few minutes,” Piper teased with a wink. 

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…” Grover began with exaggerated pompousness

“ _ Grover _ ….” both Annabeth and Percy groaned. 

“Okay, fine. We’ll start with the vows. Percy, would you like to go first?”

Percy gave a dazzling smile,nodded, and moved to stand across from Annabeth. 

“Piper, the ring please?” Grover asked. Piper handed the ring off to Percy, who held it delicately in his right hand. 

Grabbing one of her hands, he began, “Annabeth, my Wise Girl, you have given me everything I could have wanted out of life and more. You’re so incredibly smart, and you teach me to be a better boyfriend (soon to be husband), man, and just person in general every single day. I think I might have to set up a shrine on the steps of the Met because it has become the place that changed my life forever. I don’t even want to imagine where I’d be without you right now. 

“I love your hair, your eyes, your smile, your sense of humor, your intellect, your architectural skills, your passion for the things you love most. I love every single moment I’ve shared with you and I love how easy it is to imagine a future with you. 

“With this ring,” he held it up for emphasis, “I promise to love with all of my heart and then some.I promise to stand by you no matter what challenges life throws at us. I promise to fight like hell for us. I promise to be your partner in crime, your Seaweed Brain, until the end of time. 

“Oh, and I promise to be your hero and eat lunch at the Met with you whenever you want,” he finished with a dopey grin. 

Tears were straight up running down Annabeth’s face by now, but Percy was still looking at her with so much adoration it was nearly unfathomable.

“Alright Annabeth. Jason, the ring?” 

Annabeth could’ve been mistaken, but she swore she saw unshed tears in both Grover’s and Jason’s eyes. Shakily, she grabbed the ring from Jason, and like Percy had done, connected her free hand with his. 

Piper stepped forward to hand Annabeth a card with her pre-written vows on it,but Annabeth waved her off. She had practiced enough over the last few days to have these memorized. . 

She took a deep breath and looked into his eyes, feeling all of her nerves disappear as she did so. 

“Percy,my Seaweed Brain. There are some things that naturally fit together despite all logic - peanut butter and jelly, Central Park in the hecticness of Manhattan, blue food coloring and pancakes, you and me. When I first met you, you were such a breath of fresh air. You’re practically everything I’m not - silly, messy, and, as evidenced by this moment, spontaneous. You complete in ways I never really considered I could be completed. 

That you exist, someone who completes me so wholly, will surely be the greatest miracle of my life. You make me laugh, you make me sing, you make me dance in ways that I was never free enough to allow myself to do before. I can’t wait for a lifetime filled with happiness and memories with you. 

You made me believe in love again when I was sure it would never find its way back to me. You showed me how to love fearlessly and how to devote my heart to another human being. You taught me that love is the most powerful thing in this universe. I will spend my whole life trying to thank you for that, but I don’t know if I ever truly can. 

Now, I’d like to quote one of my favorite poems, which sums up a lot of the feelings I’m having better than I possibly could have ( **A/N: this is a poem by Christopher Poindexter. His writing is beautiful, so check it out if you like this!)** : 

_ “I admit, I was afraid to love. Not just love, but to love him. For he was a stunning mystery. He carried things deep inside him that no one has yet to understand and I admit I was afraid to fail, like the others.  _

_ He was the ocean and I was just a girl who loved the waves but was completely terrified to swim _ ” 

Thank you for teaching me how to swim. I love you more than anything in this world and I promise to be by your side during the rough waters and the calm seas.” 

When she finished, Percy had tears in his eyes, but was smiling hugely. Annabeth figured he would like all of the ocean talk near the end of that. 

“Annabeth Chase, do you take Percy to be your lawfully wedded husband?” Grover inquired softly

“I do,” Annabeth stated defiantly. 

“And Percy Jackson, do you take Annabeth to be your lawfully wedded wife?” 

“Hell yes I do,” Percy replied grinning. 

“Well then, I am happy to officially announce Mr. and Mrs. Jackson! You definitely need to kiss your bride now, man. 

Percy didn’t need to be told twice. He dipped Annabeth down and enthusiastically met his lips with hers. Annabeth wasn’t even sure how long they stayed like that. She could hear Grover, Piper, and Jason whooping and cheering, but most of her mind was preoccupied with the man who was now her  _ husband _ , who was making her see stars with that kiss. 

When they pulled apart, their three “guests” rushed them and brought them into a big group hug. 

“Thank you so much for doing this guys, this was everything I’ve ever wanted,” Annabeth said to them. She felt Percy squeeze her shoulder so she thought he might have been feeling the same way. 

After they all pulled apart, Percy grabbed Annabeth’s hand and began walking along the beach with her. Nobody stopped them, but after about 10 minutes, Piper came up behind them. 

“Hey Jacksons,” this elicited a grin from both Percy and Annabeth, “Sorry to bother, but the ceremony starts in 10 minutes so we should probably be heading back now.”

“I’m a JAckson now,” Annabeth giggled as they made their way back to the hotel.

“I know,” Percy stopped them and grabbed both of her hands, “Life is perfect. Annabeth, you’re perfect.” 

Annabeth simply responded by kissing him (she’d been doing that a lot today), and pulling him along towards the hotel. Once there, they kissed a few more times before parting ways to take their respective places for the ceremony. 

Some people might have found it weird that they would say vows and place rings on each others fingers despite being legally married already but Annabeth loved it. She felt no nerves about the ceremony now because Percy had already heard her vows and they shared that moment privately. 

On the walk back, they had decided that they would go with standard vows for this ceremony- wanting their promises of love to stay between them and their closest friends. Annabeth loved Percy all the more for being the one to come up with that idea.

The ceremony passed in a flash. Annabeth completely forgot about all the guests, losing herself in the secret smiles shared between her and her husband as they said their “I do’s” for the second time that day. 

Before she knew it, Percy was pulling her into their “first” married kiss as a couple. This one was met with much more raucous applause than the one earlier in the day, but Annabeth far preferred the earlier one anyways.  

They exited the church hand in hand, whispering sweet nothings to one another as they walked off towards a shared future. Towards something permanent. 

==========================================================

Percy had run off to the bathroom a few minutes ago and Annabeth was enjoying dancing ridiculously to the Cupid Shuffle with her friends. Before the next song could transition, Annabeth heard the DJ come over the speaker with an announcement. 

Annabeth knew that she didn’t tell her to announce anything, so she listened intently, curious about what was happening. 

“Alright ladies and gentlemen, I have something very special for you all right now,” she began, which was received with a chorus of excited cheers. 

Annabeth glanced around, desperately trying to find Percy. Maybe he knows what this is all about? 

“I’ve gotten a request from a very special person tonight,” the DJ began again, “The Groom himself! Give it up for Percy Jackson folks!” 

Raucous applause filled Annabeth’s ears and she whipped back around to the stage, but Percy was still nowhere to be found. 

“He put in a request for a particular song to be played for a certain lovely lady tonight.” 

Suddenly, all too many eyes were on Annabeth. Even though it was her ‘big day,’ she still wasn’t a fan of all this attention. 

She pretended not to notice and focused her eyes on stage. A spotlight came on, illuminating Percy, who had his back turned to the audience at the moment. He had shed his jacket- his blue suspenders sticking out violently against his white shirt. Annabeth loved it. 

Soft, pre-recorded guitar started playing through the speakers. It sounded vaguely familiar, but Annabeth couldn’t quite place it. Percy was still facing away from her, but she could just imagine the shit-eating grin he was wearing because of how dramatic he was being. 

People around her had started to sway, and a few even wolf-whistled as Percy himself started to sway. Annabeth was fully expecting a special dance or something. What she was  _ not  _ expecting was for Percy to lift sa microphone to his lips and sing softly.

“ _ Would you dance, if I asked you to dance?”  _ he whipped his head around dramatically and Annabeth rolled her eyes. “ _ Or would you run and never look back?”  _

_ “Would you cry, if you saw me crying?”  _ Percy traced a tear falling down his cheek, but did so with a huge grin on his face. Oh, and if you hadn’t figured it out yet, Percy was singing horribly off key. It was so bad, it was funny (and probably a little romantic if you asked some people). 

The song was starting to bring back memories, yet Annabeth still couldn’t quite place it. She was sure it was a song that Percy had belted out like he so often does, but she couldn’t remember when he had done it. 

“ _ And would you save my soul tonight?” _

Percy jumped off the stage and Annabeth realized that she had somehow made her way to the front of the crowd. She didn’t even remember walking closer, but Percy tended to have that mesmerizing effect on her.  

“ _ Would you tremble if I touched your lips?”  _ He reached forward and grazed her lips with his fingers. Jokingly, Annabeth violently jerked about and earned a lot of laughs from the audience. 

“ _ Or would you laugh? Oh please tell me this. Now would you die, for the one you love? Oh hold me in your arms tonight.”  _

Annabeth reached her arms out to hold him, but in a flash he had dropped to one knee on the floor. 

He closed his eyes and belted out, “ _ I CAN BE YOUR HERO BABY, I CAN KISS AWAY THE PAIN. _ ” 

Of course, it was the very first song he sang to Annabeth, on the day which he offered to sit by her on the stairs. Popping up, he quickly pecked Annabeth on the cheek.

“ _ I will stand by you forever, you can take my breath away. _ ” 

Percy, stood in front of Annabeth with flushed cheeks, hair disheveled, slightly panting from the singing. ‘ _ I love you’  _ he mouthed. 

Annabeth surged forward and kissed him in response, which was of course met with raucous cheers of approval from the guests. 

She pulled away, expecting him to keep singing, but the song blended seamlessly into the version where Enrique Iglesias was the one doing the singing. Percy pulled her close again and started whispering the rest of the lyrics in her ears while they danced. 

Annabeth smiled and leaned into his touch. She loved this man more than she had ever loved anything in her life. As he continued to sing, she kissed his cheek, wanting this silly, ridiculous moment to last forever.

Unfortunately, the song ended shortly thereafter. Cheers filled the ballroom, and Percy took a dramatic bow, accepting the applause. Annabeth rolled her eyes, but couldn’t quite get the grin to leave her face. 

She would never give Percy the satisfaction of hearing her say this out loud, but when she thought of her future - filled with terrible singing, bad puns, and maybe even some little ones with shockingly black hair - she couldn’t thank her lucky stars enough for bringing her a “hero” on the steps of the Met. Even if he was a Seaweed Brain. 

**FIN.**


End file.
